A Walk In The Park
by NickiePierce
Summary: Amber Baker has a horrible life and a terrible secret. When she gets kicked out one night,she lands upon Johnny. What happens when Johnny finds out her secret? COMPLETED 10805
1. Anywhere but here

Amber's POV

It was pitch black outside, with the exception of a few streetlights as I walked up the driveway to my house. I looked at my watch. 12:30 Am. _'damn it!'_ I thought to myself. _'I am as good as dead if he is awake'_ I put the key in the doorknob, quietly praying to myself that my step-father wasn't awake. He was probably drunk and I hate it when he is because he gets angry at me for the strangest reasons. My life has always been crappy and now that he was in my life it was worse. Almost every night he would beat me; if I came home 5 minutes late, if I knocked something over, if I burned his food, and most of the times just because I was there.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I walked into my house. I was greeted with an eerie silence. That was never a good thing. The silence was soon broken when I heard the sound of loud footsteps running down the stairs. _'o god'_ I thought, just before my step-father came bolting into the room.

"Where the hell have you been!" he screamed.

I backed away, and started to shake.

"Umm I-I-I" my voice was shaking and came out as barley a whisper. My stepfather was a tall, kind of muscular looking man in his early 40's. He had jet black hair and was a little heavy. Just the look of him would scare someone away. He was the type of guy who people knew not to mess around with.

"Answer me you stupid bitch!" he screamed walking dangerously close to me.

"I went to the Dingo…and then for a walk. I lost track of time…I'm really sorry" I said, looking at the floor.

"Look at me when you speak!"

I looked up.

"Why were you there?" he questioned me.

"Because you said I could go" my voice was starting to crack and I was on the verge of tears. I just wanted him to leave me alone. I wanted to run upstairs into my room and cry.

I was awaken from my thoughts by a loud SMACK

My stepfather had hit me. He was a strong man, a little to strong and the impact from the smack made me lose balance and sent me flying to the floor.

"Don't you EVER blame anything on me!"

I sat there on the floor holding my cheek where he hit it. It stung like hell and I could feel tears forming in my eyes. He walked over to me and kicked me in the stomach.

"Get up"

I groaned in pain as I tried to move.

"I SAID GET UP!"

He reached down and picked me up by my shirt, throwing me against the wall. He was drunk. I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he stood there holding me against the wall.

" You disgust me you worthless excuse of a girl" he said giving me a look of pure hatred.

" GET OUT! I want you out now!"

I winced as he said this because he was screaming in my ear. He noticed this and dragged me over to the door. He opened it and threw me onto the porch. Then he turned away and shut the door. I sat on the ground for a minute or two staring at the door in shock. After about a minute I came to my senses and got up and ran like hell. I bolted down the driveway and onto the sidewalk. I had no idea where I was going but I didn't care. Anywhere was better than here.


	2. Meeting Johnny

**Amber's POV  
**I ran for what seemed like hours but in reality it was only about 10 minutes. I found myself standing in front of the entrance to a park that I like going to. I wondered if I should stay here seeing as how I couldn't go home. The park was huge, and located on greaser territory. It had a large fountain in the center of it that was surrounded by four benches. I walked over to one of the benches and sat down. As I sat there I started to think about my life, and believe me it was no fairy tale.

It wasn't always bad though. There was a time in my life when I was just a normal happy girl. My family always used to go to the beach or have picnics in the park. I remembered how my dad would always call me his 'little princess'. But that was when I was young, maybe around 5 or 6. Those times didn't last though. It all ended one day when my dad got into a car accident. The doctors gave him some type of drug to stop the pain and help him heal. He ended up getting addicted to it. He started to take other drugs and would always go out and return late at night. He would come home acting funny and getting angry at my mom for no reason. The truth was that my dad had turned into an alcoholic and a drug addict.

At the time I was too young to understand what was going on. All I knew was that daddy had a problem and it wasn't a good one. I remember the nights when I would wake up to my dad hitting and throwing things at my mom. I'd come downstairs and see her on the floor crying and glass shattered everywhere._' What's going on mom?'_ I'd ask in my innocent little 6 year old voice. _'Its nothing sweetie, go back to bed'_ was always my mom's answer. When I got older I started to understand my dad's problem. That's when he began hitting me. Most of the time it was because I tried to help my mom when he hit her or just because I walked through the door. He'd yell at me and tell me that my mother should be able to stick up for herself. At night I would sit up in my room crying, listening to my mom screaming as he tortured her. It was heart wrenching but as time passed I got used to it. The beatings came daily and the fights between my parents every night were expected. As each day passed, the arguments go more and more violent until one day, my mom was gone.

The memories all came flowing back to me as I sat there on the bench. It was all too much for me at the moment and I burst out crying, tears blurring my vision. _'Mom, why, why did you leave me? You were supposed to stay here with me! You were supposed to help me through all of this! Not leave me with this horrible person!'_ "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?" I screamed out loud angrily. I started to cry even harder. "Why did you leave me?" I whispered to myself.

When I finally stopped crying, I curled up on the bench and attempted to fall asleep. I lay there, staring into the darkness and listening to the relaxing pitter-patter of the flowing water from the fountain. I was nearly asleep when I was woken up by the screeching of tires followed seconds later by a loud shrill scream, cutting through the silence. I looked up to see what all the commotion was and saw a young boy, about my age which was 16, surrounded by 4 socs.

**Johnny's POV  
**_'That stupid jackass'_ I thought to myself as I walked down the quiet streets of Tulsa. It was around 1am and my parents had kicked me out, once again. _'I don't want to go to the Curtis's at this hour; they probably would kill me for waking them up'_ so once again I find myself heading towards the park near my house. I always go there when my parents kick me out. For some odd reason, I find sitting in the park relaxing. It's always quiet and a good place to go and think.

I was a few feet away from the entrance of the park when I heard the sound of a car coming up behind me. I looked back to find a blue mustang following me, no doubt the car belonging to a soc. _'Just keep walking'_ I thought to myself.

"Hey guys, lookie what we have here. A little lonesome greaser boy" I heard one of the socs say.

"Maybe he is looking for a cardboard box to live in" I heard another say. The rest in the car started laughing hysterically. I stopped and turned around, looking at them with an evil glare.

"Lookie what we have here" I said, mimicking the socs voice. "If it isn't a bunch of snobby, pathetic jackasses". I said laughing to myself. The car came to a screeching stop.

"What did you just say grease?"

_'oh no!'_

The socs in the car all got up and ran towards me.

_' Run! Run!' _I told myself but my feet wouldn't move.

I let out a bloodcurdling scream as one of the 4 socs that got out of the car punched me in the jaw. I fell to the ground and who I assume was the leader pulled out his switchblade. He punched me again and I felt blood running down my face. I reached into my jeans pocket and grabbed my switchblade. The 'leader' advance on me with the blade and I ducked, with him narrowly missing my neck. He tried at me again, this time, cutting the side of my face. I was about to hit him with my blade when one of the other socs there grabbed it out of my hand and kicked me to the ground.

I got punched and kicked a few more times until they finally stopped and got back in their car.

"That'll teach you not to talk to us like that ever again grease" I heard one of them say. I lied there, watching the blue car drive away, trying desperately not to lose consciousness, but the darkness overtook me.

**Amber's POV  
**I sat there on the bench just staring at the socs beating up the boy. They were all in a circle around him so I couldn't see what was happening. When they finally stopped and moved back, I could see the boy. He was lying motionless on the floor. _'o god'_ I watched as all the socs piled into the blue car and drove away. Once they were out of site I ran over to the boy to see if he was ok.

As I got closer to him I got a better look at the kid. He had jet black hair that fell in the front of his face, covering just a little of his eyes. His skin was tan and by the clothes he was wearing, it looked as if he were a greaser.

I walked up to him and kneeled down beside him.

"Hey, kid, wake up" I said gently shaking him.

No response

"Come on, please wake up" I said in a pleading tone.

Still no response

"Please" I was getting worried. _'Maybe I should call an ambulance?'_ I thought out loud.

Just as I was about to get up and find a phone, I heard a groan and saw the kid move.

"oh thank god! Are you ok?" I asked concerned. He sat up and looked at me for a minute before answering.

"Umm yea, I'm fine" he said quietly.

"Are you sure? You look pretty beat up." I said looking at him. There was a large cut across the side of his face, a bruise forming on his neck and he had a bloody nose.

"yea, I am fine, just kind of sore, that's all"

"ok"

We sat there in an awkward silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

'What's your name?" he asked, his brown eyes staring at me.

"My name is Amber. Amber baker." I said, sticking my hand out for him to shake it.

"My name is Johnny. Johnny Cade, but most people call me Johnnycakes"

"Johnnycakes" I laughed. "I like that name"

He blushed at the comment and then turned away.

"So, how did you find me?" he asked, still looking away.

" I was in the park…and I heard a scream and saw you"

"Oh. Why were you there by yourself at this time of night?" he said turning to face me.

"Well…I got in a fight with my dad and I needed to clear my head. Why were you out here?"

"Pretty much the same reason"

"oh" I said, looking around realizing that we were still on the ground.

"Umm, do you think maybe we should go sit on a bench?"

"Humm?" he said looking at me confused.

"Well, we are sitting on the ground and its kind of uncomfortable"

"oh, right" he laughed.

We got up and walked over to the bench that I was on before, right next to the fountain.  
We sat there in silence for a few minutes and I started to drift off to sleep when I heard him say something to me.

"Hey Amber?"

"Yea?"

'Do you think you'd want to come with me and meet my friends tomorrow? They are really nice and that way if you ever need a place to stay, you can come and stay with them."

"Umm" _'say yes! Its not like you have anything better to do tomorrow. Unless you want to go back and face your father'._ Did I really want to do that? I thought to myself. I looked over to Johnny and saw him staring at me waiting for an answer.

"Sure"

He smiled and I smiled back at him. Maybe my life could eventually get better.


	3. A New Day

**Author's Note: **im soooo sorry that it took me so long to update. I've beenreally busy with school and other things. Anyways, i am not quite sure how good this chapter is. I needed a chapter to get Johnny and Amber from the park and to the Curtis house so this one is probably one of the moreboaring ones. and i apologize for it being really short. i didnt want her to meet the gang in this chapter because then it would have been to long.  
I want to thank **angelofdeadlydarkness0010**, **Mrs. Benji Madden **( I like ur name btw, i am a huge fan of Good Charlotte), **weirdsista**,** LatinaChick4life**,** Tootsie87**, and **ZiggyGurl **for reviwing my story. You guys are all so wonderful and i appreciate you taking the time to review my story. You guys are what inspired me to update :)! If anyone finds a mistake pls tell me and i will fix it. I checked this over but sometimes i miss little things like commas or someting.

Oh, and being the some what forgetful person that i sometimes am, i realized that i never put up a disclamer, so here is my disclamer.  
**Disclamer: **I don't own any of the characters from the outsiders or anything that is in relation to the book. All of it belongs to the wonderful author, S.E. Hinton. The only personI own is Amber Baker.

I have probably boared you to death by now so without further adue, here is chapter 3!

**Amber's POV**  
The next morning I woke up to the sound of shallow breathing coming from a boy beside me. I jumped up, nervously looking around trying to find out where I was. It took me about a minute until I finally remembered that I was in the park. I sighed as the events of the night before came flooding back to me. I looked down at the bench I had been sitting on and saw Johnny, laying there still asleep. _'Maybe I should wake him up'_ I thought to myself.

Looking at my watch I saw that it was only 8, so I figured that I wouldn't wake him up just yet. I got up off the bench and started to walk around the park, staring into space and wondering about what I was going to do when I went back home. _'maybe I should just run away, my dad probably wouldn't care if I was gone, heck, he'd probably love the fact that I wasn't there to bother him anymore'_. I groaned. I shouldn't be thinking this much, its to early.

I walked around for about 5 more minutes just admiring the beauty of the park when I heard someone say my name. I turned around to find Johnny awake and standing up in front of the bench.

"Morning Amber"

"Morning Johnny" I said smiling.

"So, what are you going to do today?" I asked walking over to him.

He didn't answer right away so I figured that he probably didn't hear me.

"Johnny?" I said looking at him.

"Hum?" he said sort of startled.

" I asked what you were going to do today"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably what I usually do. Hang with my friends and go to the nightly double."

" That's cool."

"Umm, speaking of my friends, are you going to come with me to meet them today?" he asked questioningly.

"Yea, sure. It's not like I have anything better to do" I said sadly.

**Johnny's POV  
**I woke up in the morning to find Amber standing in front of the fountain in the center of the park.  
"Morning Amber" I said.

"Morning Johnny" she said in a chipper voice while turning around to face me.

When she turned around I realized that it was the first time I actually got a good look at her. When I met her last night it was dark, so I couldn't really see to good. Now it was light outside so I could finally see what she looked like. She had light brown hair with blonde highlights that came down just past her shoulders. Her skin was a light tan color and her eyes were a light shade of brown. She was wearing a white tank top and faded blue jeans. By the look of her she was definitely not a greaser. Maybe she is a middle classer but I am guessing that she is a soc.

Soc. I let out a small sigh. Socs were never good people to us greasers, except for maybe Cherry and Marcia. I looked over to her and there was a big smile on her face. She looked so much more happier than she was last night. She seemed so nice and caring. Maybe she was like Cherry and Marcia?

"Johnny?" I heard her say. The sound of her voice awakening me from my thoughts.

"Hum?"

"I asked what you were going to do today"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably what I usually do. Hang with my friends and go to the nightly double." Oh, _friends! That reminds me.  
_

" That's cool."

"Umm, speaking of my friends, are you going to come with me to meet them today?"

"Yea, sure. It's not like I have anything better to do" she said, sadness filling her voice.

"Well, come on. Lets go find them. And don't worry, I promise that you will love them! They are really nice and fun to be around" I said as I turned and started walking towards the entrance of the park.

"I am sure they are" she answered, turning and following me out of the park.

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Hope y'all liked this chapter. I am sorry if it is kind of suckish. Pls review! The reviews are what inspire me to update!  
Next chapter will be posted soon.  
**hugs nd kisses  
Sara**


	4. The Gang

**Author's Note:** hey guys. srry it took me so long to update. I was sick and had a lot of school work. But the good news is that i am on my spring break so i'll probably be able to update within the next two days.I was watchin The Outsiders on Sunday and i decided that i should update this story. Neway, this chapter is a bit longer so i hope you guys like it.

I want to thank **Ashley, CandieBabie30,LatinaChick4life, Harriet Lioness, Outsider Fanfic, Ziggygurl and Kellie** for reviewing. It means alot to me and you guys are what inspire me to update! I am so glad that all of you like this story!  
hope u like this chappie! (srry if some of the caracters seem OOC, i tried hard to make them not OOC but..)

**Disclamer:** I'm not S.E. Hinton b/c if i was i'd be getting paid right now instead of writting fanfictions. All of the characters in this story belong to her. The only character that is mine is Amber Baker.

**Amber's POV  
**We walked for about 5 minutes until we came to a stop in front of a small white house that was surrounded by a short metal fence.

"Here we are" Johnny said as he opened the gate and walked up the driveway.

I quietly followed him up to the door and nearly ran into him when he came to a stop. He turned around and looked at me for a minute.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. He was a little nervous and I wondered why.

"My friends can get a little wild and sometimes say things that they don't mean. So don't be offended by anything they say."

About a minute after he said this, a loud scream and the sound of something falling and hitting the ground followed by howls of laughter could be heard comingfrom inside the house. Johnny opened the door and walked in with me hesitantly following behind him.

I looked around at the people in the house and saw that there were 5 boys, not including Johnny. On the floor there were 2 boys wrestling each other while another with rusty colored side burns just sat there, eating chocolate cake, mesmerized by what was on the TV screen. It seemed as if the one watching TV didn't even notice that there were 2 people wrestling next to him. Another boy was sitting on the couch reading a book. I looked into the kitchen and saw a tall, muscular guy with dark brown hair cooking breakfast.

"Hey guys" Johnny said so quietly that I wondered if anyone had heard him over all the racket. Apparently they had because he had gotten a few 'hellos' from the people in the room.

I stood there quietly not saying anything hoping that if I didn't say anything they probably wouldn't notice I was there. That theory soon was gone when the boy who was on the couch stood up and walked over to Johnny.

"Hey Johnny, whose your friend?" he asked.

"I'm Amber Baker" I said sticking my hand out for him to shake it.

"Hi I'm Ponyboy Curtis" the boy said. He had greenish-gray eyes and long light brown hair that was full of grease. He was wearing a navy blue shirt and faded blue jeans.

I am guessing that somewhere during the time that Ponyboy had came over to me and Johnny the 2 boys that were wrestling had stopped because they were now walking over towards us. One of them looked like he could have been a movie star. He had dark gold hair and dark brown eyes. He wasn't as muscular as the guy that I had seen in the kitchen but he did have some muscle. There was a huge smile on his face and just looking at him made me want to smile too.

The boy that was next to him was tall and skinny with thick greasy black hair. He wasn't as good looking as the other boy, but he wasn't bad looking either. He didn't have a huge smile on like the other boy. It was more like a half smile.

"Hey Ponyboy" the boy that looked like a movie star said.

"Hey Soda"

"Who are you talking to Pony?" the boy with the black hair asked.

"This is Johnny's friend Amber" Ponyboy said, pointing to me.

"Amber, this is my brother Sodapop Curtis and his friend "

"Steve Randle. And I'm free tonight if ya wanna catch a movie" the black haired boy said interrupting Ponyboy and winking at me.

"Hi" I said quietly. I wasn't used to being around so many boys so I was kind of shy, and the fact that one was hitting on me didn't really help.

"Steve, don't get any ideas" the one named Sodapop said while shoving his friend.

I looked down at the ground feeling kind of awkward and I guess Soda noticed because he added "Don't mind Steve; he's a bit of a perv around girls"

"I heard that!" Steve shouted with mock anger in his voice. He ran over to Soda and tackled him to the ground and once again they started wrestling.

Pony, Johnny and I all stood there for a second, watching them fight.

"Come on, lets get away from these psychos" Ponyboy said walking over to the couch.

I sat down on the couch and looked around trying to find the other guy that had been sitting on the floor when I first walked in. It didn't take that long because after about a minute I heard a loud whistle and someone came and sat down next to me.

"Well look what we have here." He said looking at me.

"Hey, Darry, looks like little old Johnnycakes has picked himself up a soc"

"I'm not a soc, I'm a middle classer, but I'm more of a greaser than a soc" I said quietly.

"You sure bout that hun?" he said with a laugh while putting him around me. "You could have fooled me."

I shifted uncomfortably when he did this because I don't really like when guys have there hands on me. Especially when I barley even know the guy.

"Two-bit you moron! Leave her alone, you're scaring her" I heard an unfamiliar voice say. I looked up to see that the voice belonged to the guy that had been cooking breakfast.

"Jeeze Dar, you're no fun. It's not like I am gonna hurt her or anything" he said taking his arm away from me.

"Don't mind him. He's just a little scatter-brained. I'm Darryl Curtis and that sitting next to you is Keith Matthews." I looked over to the one next to me and saw him shoot Darryl an evil glare.

"But most people call me Two-bit" Two-bit said. I looked at him and saw that he had long rust colored side-burns and gray eyes. He was smiling but it was nothing like Sodapop's smile. Two-bit's was more of a comical grin rather than the gentle and happy one Sodapop had.

"So what's a cute little broad like you doing hanging around Johnnycakes" Two-bit asked.

"Two-bit, stop it" Johnny said. He had been quiet the whole time we were here and I almost forgot he was still in the same room with me.

"You guys really are no fun" Two-bit said.

"Hey Two-bit, you're missing Mickey" Soda yelled from somewhere in the kitchen. At this Two-bit jumped up and ran back over and sat in front of the TV again.

"He still watches Mickey mouse?" I asked.

"Yup. And make sure he doesn't catch you saying anything bad bout Mickey cuz he'll give ya a good beating for that." Pony said.

"He does know that its JUST a TV show?"

"Yea, he does. But still. Ya don't wanna bother him when he's watching Mickey". Ponyboy said. I laughed at that comment.

Johnny, Pony and I all talked for a while until I looked at my watch and noticed the time. _'O no. I didn't tell my dad where I was going. He's gonna kill me'_

"I have to go" I suddenly said.

"I'm sorry, its just that I never told my dad where I was going and well, you know parents"

"Ok, well, nice meeting you Amber" Pony said.

"Bye"

'Bye" the rest of the people in the room all chorused in.

I opened the door and walked down the steps but I turned around when I heard someone walk out behind me.

"Hey Amber"

I turned around and saw Johnny standing in the doorway.

"Me and Pony and a few of the guys were gonna go to the Nightly Double tonight. You wanna go?"

"Uhh, sure"

"Meet us there at 7 k?" he said

"K. Bye Johnny" I said and turned around running down the driveway. I wasn't looking where I was going and I almost crashed into someone.

"Whoa, slow down there doll" the guy i bumped into said.

"Sorry, I am in a hurry" I said tohim before running out the gate and down the block.

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hope u liked the chapter! review :).  
next chap coming soon.  
hugs nd kisses  
**Sara**


	5. I'm Fine

**Author's Note: **ok, i know that i promised to update in two days but as you can see it didn't happen. I m really sorry! I sprained my finger so i wasn't able to write for a while and then i got a cold wich didn't help. i have the next chapter half way finished and if your lucky i will post it tonight lol.

**Thank Yous:** i want to thank all my reviewers! you guys are the greatest! this is my first fanfiction and i have 20 reviews after the first 4 chapters. this may not seem like a lot to some of you but to me it is amazing because i really didnt think anyone would like my story.  
**angelofdeadlydarkness0010:** thank you so much for the review, i really appreciate it! i am glad you liked the chapter and i hope you like this one :).  
**Ziggygurl:** thank you for the review! i am very happy thatan excellent writer such as yourself is taking the time to read and review my story. i always look forward to getting a review from you. hope you like this next chapter :)!  
**LatinaChick4life:** i am very happy that you like my story! thank you for taking the time to read and review it. it means alot to me! hope you like this chapter.  
**Rose Noire du Mort:** i am glad that you find my story interesting. thank you for the review! hope you like this chapter!

**Disclamer:** I am not S.E. Hinton and i think that we know that by now. The only person i own is Amber Baker

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**Johnny's POV**  
I watched Amber turn around and start to walk down the driveway. Then I turned and walked back inside the house. I looked around and saw that Two-bit was still on the floor watching Mickey Mouse and Pony was sitting on the couch. Darry was in the kitchen along with Soda and Steve. Glancing around, I noticed that Dally was the only one missing. _'He's probably at Bucks.'_ I thought to myself as I walked over to the couch to join Ponyboy.

"So, Amber seemed like a nice person Johnny" Pony said to me as I sat down next to him.

"Yea. And I hope you don't mind that invited her to come to the Nightly Double with us tonight."

"Don't worry bout' it Johnnycake, we don't mind. Right guys?" Ponyboy stated more than questioned.

"No, we don't mind Johnnycake. It'll be fun having her around." Soda said while flashing us one of his famous happy-go-lucky grins. That was the great thing about Soda. He was always so happy and no matter how bad you felt, he always made you smile.

We were sitting in silence for about a minute when the door slammed open and in walked the one and only, Dallas Winston.

"Hey, guys. Any of you know who that hot little broad was that just ran out of here bout 5 minutes ago?" He asked.

"That was Johnny's friend Amber" Steve said while walking out of the kitchen carrying a plate of chocolate cake.

"Speaking of Johnny, where is he?" Dally asked. I looked up at the mention of my name.

"Over there, next to Pony on the couch." Steve said.

Dally walked over to me but stopped before sitting down on the couch. He gave me a strange look and then said "Hey Johnny, did you get into a fight with your old man or something? Jeeze, I told you that you shouldn't have gone back to your house just yet!"

"What?" I said completely confused.

"The cut on your face stupid" Dally said.

I lifted my hand up to touch the side of my face, and sure enough there was a pretty decent size cut on it. _'I must of gotten it from when that soc pulled his blade out on me. I am surprised no one noticed it yet' _

"Oh, that. It's nothing. I was walking around near the park and I got jumped by some socs that's all" I said, saying the last part very quickly. Whenever one of the gang hears that I got jumped they get all crazy and worried. I wish they wouldn't care so much because I am fine, but they always make it seem worse than it is. I remember that once some soc named Jason punched me in the face for looking at him the wrong way. Dally and the gang found out and they hunted the soc down and threatened him that they would kill him if he ever came near me again.

"Damn socs! I'll kill em'!" Dally shouted. I just sat there and stared at him. I knew this would happen if I told him.

"Why didn't you tell us Johnny?" Darry asked, walking out of the kitchen.

"Because I didn't want to worry you guys. I am fine. Really." I said quietly.

"Jeeze Johnny! Your so stupid! Why would you walk outside all by yourself?" Dally said, still shouting.

"Aw, come on Dal. Leave him alone." Soda said, walking over to me.

"What did you just say to me? You know if you weren't Darry's brother I'd beat your head in" Dally said with a dangerous glint in his eye. I knew that was true because no one and I mean no one talks back to Dally like that without getting punched.

"You know what. I am out of here" Dally said. And with that he turned and walked out the door.

"Johnny don't worry bout old Dal, you know how it is with him. Sometimes he just loses it. Your like the little brother he never had and he just doesn't want to see ya get hurt." Darry said. "Hey Pony, can ya get me a wet wash cloth or something?" Soda asked.

"Yea, sure." He said, getting up off the couch and walking into the kitchen.

'Soda it's ok. I am fine."

"I know ya are Johnnycakes but we gotta clean up this cut so it doesn't get infected."

I looked around feeling some what awkward. I really didn't want to talk about this any more and I wish someone would change the subject. I saw Pony come back into the room with a wet washcloth and I have a feeling that he sensed I didn't want to talk about the topic of me getting jumped anymore.

He handed Soda the washcloth and said "Me, Johnny and Amber were thinking about going to the Nightly Double tonight. Anyone wanna join us?"

"I will" Soda said before starting to clean Johnny's cut.

"Maybe, I have to see if Evie is still angry at me for standing her up last night" Steve said. (A/N: I'm not sure if this is something that Steve would do but I had to make up a reason as to why she'd be angry at him)

"Sorry Pony but I think I'll skip" Darry said. I figured he would. Darry really wasn't a big movie watcher.

"I'll go with you guys" Two-bit said getting up from off the floor.

"Ok, well, I told Amber that we would meet her there at 7" I said standing up. Soda had finished cleaning my cut and I didn't really feel like sitting in the house since we had three more hours till we had to meet Amber at the movies.

"I am going for a walk. Anyone wanna come?" I asked.

"I will." Pony said while standing up and walking over to the door.

"Darry, I am going for a walk with Johnny. Be back in an hour" Pony shouted and then we walked out the door.

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**i am working on the next chapter now. hopefully i'll have it up tonight or tommorrow.  
review :)!  
xO Sara Ox**


	6. Amber's POV

**Authors Note:** ok, well as it turns out you guys are lucky! I posted two chapters in a little less than an hr :). Your so lucky that i love all my reviewers lol. Anway, srry if this chapter is alittle short. It's late and i have to get off the computer. and there is also the fact that u nowhave two new chpaters to read lol.  
**angelofdeadlydarkness0010:** i updated! aren't u happy :) lol. thanx sooo much for the review. You actually inspired me to post this chappie. hope you likeit!  
**to anyone else who reviews:** i will thank you in the next chapter. If you reivewed my story, chances are you did after i updated so you'll be thanked in the next chapter.

**Disclamer:** do i really need to say it? I don't own the Outsiders, S.E. Hinton does. I only own Amber Baker.

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**Amber's POV**  
I was half way down the driveway of the Curtis house when Johnny called my name. He wanted to know if I'd go to the Nightly Double with him and his friends. I told him sure and then turned around to run down the driveway. I wasn't really paying attention and I smacked into a guy that was walking up the Curtis's driveway. 

"Whoa, slow down there doll" he said to me.

"I'm sorry, I am in a hurry" I said rather quickly and then ran down the block. What I said wasn't a lie. I really was in a hurry. It was almost four and my dad hadn't seen me since last night and I knew he would flip if I didn't come home soon.

My house was about 5 or 6 blocks away from the Curtis's so it only took me about 10 minutes to get home. When I neared my house I noticed that my dad's red mustang wasn't in the driveway. _'Hopefully he isn't home. Then I could just leave a note and deal with him later'._ I walked up the driveway and quietly opened the door. I looked around and saw my dad lying on the couch passed out. _'Stupid moron'_ He probably let one of his 'friends' form the bar borrow his car which would explain why it wasn't in the driveway.

I quietly tip-toed up the stairs making sure not to make a lot of noise. I didn't want to risk waking him up and getting beaten again.

I stepped into my room and looked around. I loved my room. It's were I was safe from my dad. My room had lavender walls and a dark purple rug. It had a tan dresser and 2 white bookshelves. My bed was a fairly good size and was in the center of the room. In front of my bed was where one of the two dressers stood. On top of the dresser there was a small TV and a stereo. On the right side next to my bed stood a small wood night table. To the left was a large desk with a black flat screen computer.

I know it may seem like I have a lot but that's only because most of this stuff I got from relatives who felt bad for me. Of course they didn't know that my father abused me though. They just knew that he was a lazy bum who didn't have a job. I should tell them about what my father does to me but I am afraid of what would happen if I did.

I walked over to my bed and just fell down on top of it. I sat there for a few minutes just staring into space and enjoying the silence that had filled my house. I decided that I should probably get up and take a shower before my dad wakes up so I walked over to the closet and picked out some clothes.

After I got my clothes, I walked down the hall and into my bathroom. I quickly got undressed and turned on the shower. I stepped in and let the hot water and steam overtake me. The water gently hitting off my back made me relax a little and I eased up a bit, setting all my worries free.

Half an hour later I stepped out of the shower and put my towel around me. I dried off and put on my clothes. I had decided to wear a white 3-quarter sleeve shirt with blue capris. I put on some make-up, not a lot though; just some lip gloss and white eye shadow. Quickly I dried my hair and put it up into a messy ponytail. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 5. _'2 hrs till I have to meet Johnny'_ I thought to myself.

I didn't really feel like staying in my house any longer for the fear that my father might soon be up. I decided to go to the Dingo until it was time to meet Johnny so I quickly scribbled a note to my dad that said;

_Dad,went to the Dingo and then to the nightly Double with my friends. Be back later. _

Amber

Even though I hate my father I still had enough curtsey and common sense to leave him a note. I didn't want to have to go through another night like last night.

I walked to the door and quietly opened it. Giving my dad one final look, I walked out the door and locked it. Running down my driveway, I breathed in the cool spring breeze and let all thoughts of my dad escape me, only letting myself think of two things; Johnny and the Nightly Double.

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**next chapter will come soon! review :)  
xO Sara Ox**


	7. The Nightly Double Part 1

**Author's Note:** omg! i am soooo sooo sorry that it took me almost a month to update! My teachers have been overloading me with tons of hw and i had a huge math state test and a project so i haven't had much time to update. I pormise that i will try to update sooner but i can't say that i definatly will because i have to study for my social studies final next week. I'm sorry if this chapter is kind of short. I origionally intended it to be longer and have the wholenight here but ireally felt bad that i didnt update so i decided to split it into two chapters.

**E-mail:** it wont let me post it here so check my homepg for my email. u can email me with questions,suggestions or if ya just wanna chat!

Thank yous:  
**Ziggygurl **thank you sooo much for your reviews! they mean alot to me. hope you like this next chapter.  
**Two-bitGortez** thanx for the review! hope you like this next chapter  
**persona** thanx for your review. and yes, it is interesting that she takes 30 minute showers lol. Have you read the book The outsiders? cuz if you haven't then i reccomend that you read it! its really good and you would have a better understanding of the characters. If you wanna know about the characters then just email me and i'll give you their basic descriptions and characteristics. hope you like this next chapter!  
**danzin mushrooms** thanx for the reviw! i am so happy that you like my story! hope you like this next chapter.

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**Amber's POV**  
It was exactly 7 when I arrived at the Nightly Double. I looked around trying to spot one of the guys. After a minute or two of searching I found them sitting in a row of seats towards the back of the theater. I ran over to them and saw that there was 4 people with Johnny. Three of them I recognized as Two-bit, Ponyboy and Soda. The fourth person I didn't know but remembered as the guy that I ran into when I was leaving the Curtis house.

"Hey guys" I said, sitting down in the seat between Johnny and Pony.

"Hi Amber" Johnny and Ponyboy said at the same time.

"Hey, long time no see" Soda said, flashing me one of his happy-go-lucky grins. I looked down the row at him and smiled back.

Sitting next to Soda was Two-bit. "Hey girrrrl, what's….up?" he said, slurring his words a little. It was obvious to me that he was drunk.

"Yo Johnny, ya gonna introduce me to your friend?" I heard an unfamiliar voice say.

I turned and looked over in the direction that the voice came from to find that it belonged to the person sitting next to Johnny.

"Sure Dal. This is my friend Amber" he said to the guy.

"Amber" he said turning to face me "this is my friend Dallas Winston"

_Dallas Winston. Dallas Winston._ 'Where have I heard that name before?' Then it hit me. Dallas Winston was one of the toughest hoods on the east side of Tulsa. He was the one that everyone talked about. The one who always got hauled into the station and had a mile long record with the police. Johnny hangs out with him? I thought to myself. It just didn't seem right. Johnny, probably one of the quietest people I've ever met, hanging out with Tulsa's toughest hood? Correct me if I am wrong but I never would have thought that someone like Johnny would hang out with someone like Dallas Winston.

I was awaken from my thoughts by the sound of Dallys voice.

"Hey, you're the girl I ran into this afternoon" he said to me.

"Uh, yea. Sorry about that" I said, slightly blushing.

'Ah, no problem. Girls are always running into me. I'm a chick magnet" he said with a smirk on his face.

"Jeeze, Dal. Would ya hush up already? The movie is about to start" I heard pony say from beside me.

Dallas turned and shot Pony a glare and I saw Pony sink lower into his seat.

"What's the movie about anyway" Dally asked.

"I don't know. I think it's another one of those beach party movies. Ya know the ones with everyone in their bathing suit" Soda said. The movie didn't sound too appealing to me by the way Soda described it but most movies nowadays were like that. People holding free for all parties on beaches with loads of stick thin girls in bikinis about one to many sizes small for them.

"HA!" Two-bit shouted suddenly. I jumped at this, surprised by his sudden outburst. Everyone turned to look at him to see what was wrong.

"It figures. That's…all they ever make these daysss. I don't like em that much. There's no real actin…acin…ation…o what's the word!" he said looking both confused and angry at the same time.

"Action?" I said trying to stifle back a laugh. He had had one to many drinks and could barley pronounce any of his words.

"Yes! Action! No real action. Boy Johnnycake. Yous gots yourself a rrrreal smart girl there" I blushed and turned to see Johnny blushing too.

"So you know what?" Two-bit continued enthusiastically.

"What?" Soda said as if he was interested in what Two-bit was about to say.

"I'm gonna go finds me some action!" he said standing up and then falling back down.

I couldn't hold my laughter back any longer and it seemed as if no one else could either because we all burst out laughing.

"You go do that buddy!" Soda said as he tried to help up a very drunken Two-bit.

Just then I noticed that the lights started to dim and heard a few people shush us. Soda had gotten up and walked Two-bit out to the parking lot and Pony, Johnny and Dally all started to watch the movie. 'So far so good. I don't think anything could go wrong tonight' I thought to myself.

If only I knew what was about to happen, I would have taken that last line right back.

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ok, there is the 7th chapter. its a bit of a cliff hanger ...yes...no...maybe..i hope? lol. i will try really hard to update soon but i am kind of on a brain block but i think i have an idea of what is gonna happen. If anyone else has an idea though i am open to hear your suggestions!  
**hugs nd kisses  
Sara**


	8. The Nightly Double Part 2

**Author's Note:** I am truley sorry for the long wait for this update! I hope my reviewers haven't lost faith in me! I had a load of finals but the good thing is that i dont have anymore, except for my earthscience regents but w/e. so this means that i can update a whole lot more. Also, my school ends on Friday so i'll have a lot more time. This is the second part of ch.7. it was longer but i decided to split it into 2 chaps because when the ywere toghether it didnt flow right so yea... 

**Disclaimer:** need i say it? I dont own The Outsiders. I just own Amber

ok, one of my reviewers pointed out to me that the quotation marks are backwards. Yes, i do know that they are backwords. I dont purposly put them backwards, its just that on my computer MicrosoftWord is screwing up and making them backwards. just wanted to clear that up. :)

**Thank Yous:  
Danzin mushrooms** i am glad you liked the other chapter! hope you like this next chapter!  
**Angelofdeadlydarkness0010** thanx for the review. it was greatly appreciated! hope you like this next chapter.  
**CasperVollyBallPlaya18** here is your update! hope you like this chapter. thnx for the review.  
**Persona** yes, i know that i need to update sooner lol. i have to work on that. the good news is that my school ends friday so i should be able to update weekly if i am not busy or if i dont have writters block. I hope i didnt leave you hangin for too long. thanx for the review!  
**catdogbluestar** i am very happy you like my story! thnx for the review!  
**XAmberX** your name is Amber? thats so cool. I love that name it is so pretty :). I am gald you like my story. thnx for the review!  
**E1pnvn** here is ur update! hope you like this chapter :). thnx for the review!  
**Ashley** yay! my story rules lol. thnx for the review. i am glad that you like my story! hope you like this next chapter!

and now...on with the story!

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**Amber's POV  
**It was half way through the movie and I was pretty much bored out of my mind. To tell you the truth, I didn't really like the movie that much, no wait scratch that. I hated it. I knew I wasn't the only one who didn't like it though. Dally had fallen asleep somewhere within the first half hour of it and Soda had gotten up about 15 minutes ago claming that he wanted a snack. I didn't really believe him though and I figured he probably ditched us to find something a little more productive to do. I looked over at Johnny who was sitting next to me. He was looking at screen but I knew that he wasn't really paying attention to the movie. I think Pony was the only one who actually somehow was enjoying it. All I know is that I had to get out of there before I lost my mind.

"Hey Johnny" I whispered.

"Yea"

'I am gonna go get something to drink. Wanna come?" I asked.

"Sure. Just hold on a minute." He said turning to face Ponyboy. "Hey Pony, me and Amber are going to get some food. Want anything?"

"No thanks Johnny" Pony answered, and with that Johnny and I left for the snack bar.

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**(Johnny and Amber walking to the snack bar)**

"Oh, thank god. I don't think I could have lasted another minute in there." I said to Johnny as we made our way over to the snack bar.

"Me neither. I don't really like movies but I go with the guys because it's a good way to get out of the house."

"Yea" I said, my voice coming out as barley a whisper.

"I hate my home. I don't know if it is even worthy enough for the title of a home come to think of it. I mean my mom ignores me and my dad beats me. That's not what a home is supposed to be like" Johnny said sadly.

"No, Johnny, that's not what a home is suppose to be like" I replied. I had already known about his parents from Ponyboy though. I had asked him this afternoon while I was at his house.

**Flashback  
**Johnny had just gotten up to go to the bathroom leaving me sitting on the couch with Ponyboy.

"Hey Pony?" I said

"Yea"

"Why is Johnny so quiet? And why does he always look so scared?"

Pony looked up at me from the book he was reading with sad eyes.

"Well, Johnny doesn't exactly have the best home life. His parents usually ignore him and when they aren't ignoring him they beat him."

"Oh" was all that I could manage to say.

"And also," Pony began. God there is more? I thought to myself. "About a month ago a couple of Socs jumped him when he was walking home. They messed him up real bad. He's even got a scar to prove it. He is petrified that something like that might happen again. That's why is always so jumpy and scared."

"Wow, I had no idea." Knowing that little bit of information had made me feel real sorry for Johnny.

"Yea, well, Johnny doesn't like remembering that kind of stuff" Pony said. _I don't blame him _I thought to myself.

Just then Johnny came back into the room and both me and Pony immediately dropped the subject.  
**End of Flashback **

Tears were starting to form in my eyes at remembering the conversation I had with Pony. I guess Johnny noticed because he said "Well, I didn't mean to make you cry. Uhh, maybe we should get off the topic of my life."

I let out a laugh. "No, that's ok. Its just, I feel bad for you. I mean, no one deserves that kind of life." The words surprised me as they came out of my mouth. How can I be telling Johnny that when my home life was worse then his?

"Ah, well doesn't matter. I've gotten used to it. So,what's your family like. You never actually told me. All you said last night was that you were angry at your dad?" Johnny asked questioningly.

"Umm…yea. Well, it was nothing big he just..." I was frantically digging through my mind to find an excuse. I didn't want to tell Johnny about my dad beating me. It was just too early and I didn't want him getting worried about me. "He yelled at me because I failed a test." I said coolly. I hope that worked.

"Oh" _Yes! He believed me._ I thought to myself.

"So, what about your mom. You never mentioned anything about her." Johnny asked.

_O god! My mom. Jeeze why does this kid have to be so nosey._

"I don't have a mom. She got up and left me and my father last year. She said that she just couldn't handle it anymore. I think she went to live with my aunt." I lied. Wow, I was getting good at this lying thing. I guess I could have told Johnny about my dad since he was in a similar situation but my mom, well, I just couldn't tell him the truth. That was one secret that I didn't plan on telling anyone for the rest of my life.

"Oh, I am sorry." Johnny said.

"Yea, me too." I said.

* * *

Finally we reached the snack bar and got our food and drinks. On the way back to our seats not one of us talked. The silence kind of freaked me out but I was glad that Johnny wasn't asking me anymore questions.

"Finally you guys are back!" Pony said as me and Johnny went to sit back down in our seats.

"Yea, we thought you guys eloped to Mexico!" said Dally who had apparently woken up sometime within the 15 minutes that me and Johnny were gone.

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When the movie was over, Dally got up and left saying something about going over to his friend Bucks house. Johnny and Pony offered to walk me home and I gladly accepted. It was dark outside and I didn't want to take the risk of getting jumped.

The walk to my house was pretty quiet. When we reached my driveway Pony said goodbye but Johnny walked me up to the porch.

"So umm, I had a lot of fun tonight. Even if we were just watching a movie." I said.

"Yea me too" Johnny said.

We stood there in an awkward silence for a minute just gazing into each others eyes. _Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me! _Was the only thought running through my mind.

"Yea, so um, good night." He said and then he did something that surprised me. He leaned towards me and kissed me! Not one of those long hard kisses but just a sweet gentle peck.

"Good night Johnny" I said blushing as I turned to walk into my house, which I immediately regretted when I saw what was waiting for me.

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ok guys, there is chapter 8. I know it didnt answer the cliffy but the next chapter will. If i put what happend in this chap then it wouldnt flow right.  
Check out my new story **Through The Eyes of A Greaser**  
review!  
Yours truley,  
Sara 


	9. Drunk fathers and Knives

**Author's Note:** You lucky people! I have another chapter for you! 

**Warning:** this contains child abuse and (depending on how some ppl look at it) gorey details. Not very gorey but to some it might be...unsettling? just wanted to put a warning up just in case. oh and also, there is 2 curses in here. not bad ones, but i just wanted to put that up in case you didnt like cursing.

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**Amber's POV  
**I walked into the house humming a song and feeling extremely happy. I know the kiss was just a small peck but to me it meant so much more! My happy mood was soon ruined by the image of my father standing in the entranceway to the kitchen. He was holding a knife in his hand and I was a little nervous. I hoped he wasn't drunk because my drunk father with a knife in his hand didn't go to well together.

"Ummm, hey dad." I said nervously, hoping that if I acted like everything was fine he would leave me alone.

"Don't you hey dad meyou little bitch!" he screamed. Uh, oh. _Now would be a good time to run_ my brain told me. You know what the funny thing was? I didn't run.

"I am going up to my room. good night dad" I stupidly said.

"Oh no you don't!" my dad said walking over to me and pulling me by the hair back into the kitchen.

"Where were you!" _oh god, not this again! Its like a bad case of deja vu. _

"I was at the movies. Didn't you read my note?" I said in a kind of snotty voice. I didn't purposely say it like that but I just wanted to get out of the kitchen as fast as possible.

"Did I tell you that you could go to the movies! Did I ever give you permission to leave this house! What would have happened if the house caught on fire! The whole thing would have burned down all because you weren't here to call for help!" he said.

Our house catching fire? Where did he come up with that? "Umm, dad, don't you think your overreacting?"

Instead of getting an answer I felt my fathers fist connect with my face. Once again I fell to the floor. _No! How could this be happening again!_ I tried to get up but had no luck for my father threw another punch at me and I fell back down. My father was a very powerful hitter and I knew that I didn't really stand a chance against him so I just sat there and let him kick and punch me and yell things at me.

"You" kick "are" punch "exactly" kick "Like your good for nothing" more kicks and punches "mother!" "I am glad that she is gone!"

As he said those words the anger inside me rose. He had no right to talk about my mother like that. So me, being the stupid person that I am, got up and smack him hard across the face. My father was in shock for a minute and I figured that now would be a good chance to run. Unfortunately the shock wore off a little too soon and my father ran up to me and grabbed me around the waist and throwing me against the wall. He raised his hand up and it was then that I realized that he still had the knife in his hand. I watched as the cold metal of the blade glinted as the light hit it. I knew what was coming next. My father swung the blade at me and I moved out of the way but unfortunatley not fast enough. The blade came in contact with my arm, breaking the skin that was already bruised, leaving a long deep gash. I fell to the ground and looked at my arm to see warm red blood furiously pouring out of the cut and dripping down my arm. _I have to get out of here_ I thought. _He'll kill me if I don't. _And that was total truth. I knew that if he really did want to, my father would kill me. I didn't have towait longto be proved wrong because the next thing I knew, my father had swung the knife againattempting to land the blade in my stomach. He narrowly missed but not without leaving a long cut across my stomach. It wasn't as deep as the one in my arm but it did start to bleed. He took this as an advantage and his fist once again connected with my face, making my head smack against the cold, hard, wooden floor. I furiously scrambled to get to the door but it was kind of hard because the hit to my head left me with stars in front of my eyes. I couldn't see to well and a black haze was forming in front of my eyes but I refused to stop running.

I refused to give into the darkness.

My father sat there laughing at my weak attempt to get away but what he didn't notice was that I was only about 10ft from the door, just close enough to jump and grab onto the handle.I sprinted over to it and turned the doorknob.

I ran out the door and down the block listening to my father screaming at me. " I hope you get killed you lazy good for nothing bitch." How could he say all those horrible things to me? His own daughter? Those questions ran through my head but I had no time to think about stuff like that . I was bleeding real bad and I was real dizzy. I needed to find somewhere to go.

All of a sudden something that Johnny said popped into my head _"You can go to the Curtis's if you ever need a place to stay. They will house anyone." _

With Johnny's words in mind I ran with all the strength I had to the Curtis's. I was relieved when I reached the short metal gate surrounding their house about 5 minutes later. I threw open the gate and ran to the door. My whole body was in pain and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I knocked on the door and prayed that someone would answer.

About a minute later I saw the blurry face of Soda, Pony's older brother. I couldn't see to well and had absolutely no strength left.

"Oh my god! Amber what happened." I heard him say worriedly as the happy-go-lucky grin he had just been waering faded off his face.

And with all the strength I had left I said "Help me". Then I fainted, right there on the Curtis's doorstep.

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review! i should be able to update by next week so...yea lol. remember to read and review my new story **Through the Eyes of A Greaser **

hugs nd kisses  
Sara


	10. Helping Amber

**Author's Note:** ok, this chapter is probably going to be kind of boaring but bare with me. I am going on vacation tomorrow and i won't be back until late Friday night so i wanted to post somthing before i left. Next chapter should be much better and you will find out some important info about Amber.

**Thank You's  
XAmberX** i am so happy that you liked my story! i hope you like this chapter. (and i know it might be a little boreing so pls bare with me)  
**persona** I know you don't like curses and i have been trying not to use curse words but in a scene like the one with her father it just fit in and made it more realistic. i haven't really cursed all that muchand i am very sorry if i have offended you in any way. and yes, i know i have errors lol. i am so used to talking on aol that i sometimes bring my iming habits over into my writting (which i really need to stop doing). oh, and good news, no more school! so i can update more often. i hope you like this next chapter.  
thank you for the review  
**PirateBabe** i updated, yay! claps i am glad that you like my story. i hope you like this next chapter. thanks for the review.  
**E1pnvn** i am glad you like my story. hope you like the next chapter. thank you for your review!  
**catdogbluestar **i know, i know. i am evil lol. that was what...umm 3 cliffhangers in a row lol. i am on a roll! i am glad you like my story. thanks for the review.  
**fizzyworms** yay! my story is awsome. i honestly didn't think it was that good but hey, no complaints from me. thanks for the review. I hope you like this next chapter.  
**TheAngryPrincess13** i am so happy that you like my story. omg! thank you so much for telling me about the DVD. i haven't seen a commercial for it yet and i probably would have never known that there was going to be one if it wasnt for you! thanx so much xoxoxo I cant wait until the dvd comes out, it sounds so cool.  
**lovewriter45** thanx so much for your review. your a good writer urself! hope you like this next chapter  
**Ashley **thanx for the review. hope you like this chapter.  
**axbrokenxsmile** thanx for the review! you inspire me to keep writting this story. your the one that inspired me to write a story in the first place. what ever happened to urs? i think you should definatly post it. i hope you like this next chapter..even though it might be kind of boreing lol. xoxoxo bffl

**Disclaimer **I only own Amber and her father. I unfortunatley own nothing else tear

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**(Soda's POV)  
**It was about 11pm and I was lounging around on the couch watching TV. I had ditched the gang and left them at the movies about an hour and a half ago. I was starting to wonder what had happened to them when I heard the big screen door open and I saw Ponyboy walk inside.

"Hey Soda" he said to me.

"Hey Pony, what took you so long?" I asked.

"Johnny and I walked Amber home" he said walking into the kitchen only to return moments later carrying a plate of chocolate cake. He walked over to the couch and sat down besides me, swiping the remote out of my hands and changing the channel.

"Hey! I was watching that!" I said.

"Well, you aren't anymore" he said smiling and letting a chuckle escape his lips.

We had been watching the TV for about 10 minutes when I heard a light knock on the front door. I thought I was hearing things so I continued to watch TV. The knock came again except this time a little louder.

"You planning on getting the door anytime soon Soda?" Ponyboy asked me.

"I don't know, I think I am to lazy, why don't you get it?" I said.

He yawned and said "Oh gee, I don't know, I am real tired Sodapop."

"Yea right" I said laughing and getting up to open the door.

I opened the door and smiled when I saw that it was Amber. I was about to say something to her when I realized that she had cuts on her and she looked pale and weak. My smiled started to fade as she opened her mouth slightly and uttered two almost inaudible words.

"Help me."

I stood there in shock and horror as I watched her limp body fall to the ground. Tons of things raced through my mind as I stood there staring at her motionless body lying there on the ground. I couldn't speak, I couldn't think. It felt like my feet were glued to the ground.

I quickly snapped out of my trance and scoped her up into my arms, rushing her into the house. I ran into the living room and found Pony sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Pony, get up! Hurry!" I shouted.

"Wha-What?" he asked me, kind of confused.

"Please Pony just listen to me and get up!" I said while motioning to Amber who was still lying in my arms. He looked at when I was motioning to and I think he took the hint because he hurriedly got off the couch and ran over to me.

"Oh my god! Soda what happened to her!" he said in a worried tone of voice.

"I –I don't know. She was at the door and said 'help me'. Then she just fainted!" I said, stuttering a little.

"She doesn't look to good." Pony said.

"I know. DARRY! DARRY! Get in here!" I shouted.

I saw Darry coming down the hall trying to put on a shirt. "Jeeze Soda, no need to-"he started in an annoyed tone but stopped mid sentence when he saw Amber on the couch.

"What happened?" he said in a stern, fatherly type voice.

"I don't know! She came to our door and then fainted." I frowned.

"Do you think she was jumped by some socs?" Darry asked.

"No, she couldn't have been. Johnny and I walked her home after the movie" Ponyboy said.

"You know what. Right now it doesn't matter. We can ask her what happened when she wakes up but right now we need to help her!" I said, kind of annoyed at the fact that Amber was lying on our couch badly hurt and all we were doing about it was talking.

To tell you the truth I almost thought she was dead. She really didn't look that well. There was a deep puncture in her arm, almost like a chunk of it was missing. Her white tank top was caked and covered in blood and bruises were starting to form on her body. There was a little cut near the top of her head and little drops of blood were gently rolling down her forehead.

"You're right Soda. I'll go get the first aid kit" Darry said, running down the hall to get the first aid kit.

"Do you think we should tell Johnny?" Pony asked.

"No. We don't need to worry him right now. He will find out when he comes over in the morning. "I said.

Just then Darry came back into the room with the first aid kit. He started to clean up her cuts and bandage her arm.

It was around 12 midnight when he finished cleaning her up and we all headed off to bed, leaving her on the couch.

* * *

The next morning I woke up around 6 and took a shower. After shower I put on a pair of blue jeans and my light blue DX shirt. I walked into the kitchen to find Darry cooking breakfast.

"Hey Dar, did Amber wake up yet?" I asked him.

"Nope, sorry Soda." He said sadly.

I still had about an hour left until I had to leave for work so I went into the living room and turned on the TV. A few minutes later Ponyboy walked into the room.

"Good morning Soda."

"Morning Pony" I said.

"How's Amber doing?" he asked.

"I don't know. She still hasn't woken up." I frowned. She was such a nice girl. I really did hope she was ok. To tell you the truth, I think I kind of liked her as more than just a friend.

Just then I heard the front door slam open and someone shout "Ahhh! Two-bit, get off me you drunk loser" I looked up to find that Steve, Dally, Johnny and Two-bit had all just arrived. They were all horsing around and laughing about some joke that Two-bit had told them but they immediately stopped when they saw Amber on the couch. Steve's jaw dropped a little and everyone looked like they were frozen in place, kind of how I looked when I Amber fainted at our door last night. Johnny was the first to speak and he immediately ran over to Amber's side.

"What happened?" he asked, gently running his hand through her hair.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't know. She's been asleep since last night when she fainted on our porch." I said.

"Is she going to be ok?" Johnny asked. You could hear the worry in his voice and I really felt bad for him. You could tell that he liked Amber and she was probably one of the only girls who ever actually gave him a time of day.

"I am sure she will be fine" I said to Johnny, walking over to him and putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Just then I heard a low groan and Amber's eyes slowly opened.

"Hey guys, come quick! She's waking up." I shouted. Seconds later everyone was at my side looking down at Amber lying on the couch.

* * *

**i know that this chapter was probably pretty boaring but i wanted to update before i left for vacation. next chapter is better and you get to find out something very interesting about Amber. review pls! Remember to read my other story Through the **Eyes** of A Greaser.**

**xo Sara ox**


	11. Waking Up at the Curtis's

**Author's note:** hey guys! i am back from vacation. here is the next chapter. In this chapter, people's thoughts are in italics.I know that this chapter isa little short but dont worry, the next few chapters are going to be longer.Also, you will find out another very important thing about Amber within the next two chapters!

**Disclaimer:** i dont own anything. I only own Amber and her father.

**Thank yous: **i would thank each of you personally like i usually do but at the moment i dont have enough time so i just want to say thanks to the following people who reviewed.  
**XAmberX  
TheAngryPrincess13  
Alkaluma  
etheriums angel  
Two-bitGortez  
**a big thanks to all of you! i am happy that you like my story and your reviews are greatly appreciated. hope you like this next chapter!

* * *

**Amber's POV  
**I woke up the next morning to find 7 sets of eyes staring at me. I looked around trying to find out where I was. It took me a moment to realize that I was at the Curtis's house, lying on a couch in their living room. I attempted to sit up but immediately regretted it as a wave of pain shot up my back.

"Ow" I mumbled.

As soon as I said this, everyone rushed over to me to see if I was ok.

"Oh my god! Amber your awake!" Johnny said, running over to me and giving me a bear hug.

"Ow!" I whimpered. At this he let go of me and mumbled "Sorry".

"That's ok. I am just in A LOT of pain" I said, putting emphasis on the word a lot. I felt like I had been hit by an 18 wheeler. My back and arms were killing me and I had a throbbing headache.

"You should be in pain. You looked pretty beat up last night" Soda said, walking over to me with a wet washcloth in his hand. He put the washcloth on my head and told me to lye down, which was something that I had no objection in doing.

"Umm, right. About last night. Would anyone mind telling me exactly what happened?" I didn't have a clue as to what had happened. All I could remember was coming home and my father beating me. Everything after that was a blur.

"We were actually wondering if you could tell us. Do you remember who did this to you?" Darry asked calmly.

" Well, the last thing I remember is coming home and finding my father in the kitchen with a knife in his hand and-" I stopped in mid sentence realizing what I had just said. _'O god' _I thought to myself. I looked around the room to see everyone giving me a strange looks. Ponyboy and Johnny looked worried. Darry looked upset and angry. Steve and Two-bit were still standing in the doorway to the living room, their mouths hanging wide open. Dally, well Dally didn't really look bothered at all but I could sense a hint of anger in his eyes. Soda, who had left the room to get me a glass of water, came back in just in time to hear my little slip up and the glass was now shattered on the floor with a huge puddle of water surrounding his feet.

"Did your father do this?" Dally asked sternly. He had a death glare in his eyes and at that moment I was a little afraid of what would happen if I told him the truth. I had heard of what Dallas could do to someone if he was upset enough with them.

"N-no. O-of course not. I mean, come on, h-he's my father" I laughed nervously. _'Jeeze, nice going. They don't believe you'_ I knew this was true because of the looks that I was receiving from everyone.

"Amber, sweetie you don't have to lie to us. We just want the truth so we can help you." Soda said calmly.

"I-I'm not lying Soda!" I yelled. I really didn't feel like talking and I didn't like the fact that everyone was asking me all these questions. Why did they have to be so nosey? It was my life and there were some things that I didn't want them to know. I couldn't take everyone staring at me any longer so I slowly and painfully sat up. I wanted so badly to get out of this house and away from everyone's stares. I pushed myself up off the couch but as soon as my feet hit the floor I fell back down again; probably from the fact that I was so weak. Thankfully Dally ran up to me and caught me before I hit the ground. He grabbed both of my wrists and stood me up so I was looking at him eye to eye.

"Amber, we know that your father did this so why don't you just admit it to us! We are just trying to help" he yelled.

"Dally, DALLY, LET GO OF ME!" I yelled, struggling to get away from his death grip.

"No! Not until you tell us the truth!" he screamed.

"Ugh! Fine! You want the truth; I'll give you the truth! Yes, it was my dad who did this to me, but its no reason to worry because I am used to it. He does this to me everyday! My father is a good for nothing drunkie (a/n: not sure if that's a real word but), drug addict and child abuser! But no one cares. No one even bothers to ask why I am never home and why I hate it there! My life is a mess! So there! That's the truth! Are you happy now?" I screamed at them. The whole gang just stood there in shock and Dally released my wrists. I took this as an excellent opportunity to run and that's exactly what I did. I ran out the Curtis's door and down the block. I didn't know where I was going but at the moment I could have cared less.

**Johnny's POV  
**I stood there in shock, like the rest of the gang, as Amber went on with her screaming fit. I knew how she felt though. I knew what it was like to have a father like that. The funny thing was that I would have never pictured her having a life like that. She was so kind and carefree. The moment she was done with her little fit, Dally released her wrists and she bolted out the door.

"Wow" I muttered.

"You can say that again" Tow-bit said.

"Jeeze and I thought me and Johnny had it rough. Poor kid. She's probably had to hold that in for so long. At least we had the gang to talk to" Steve said.

"Yea, probably" I said quietly.

"Where do you think she went?" Soda asked.

"I don't know Pepsi-Cola, I really don't know. I just hope that she is ok" Darry said.

I was standing by the couch nervously pacing around the room. 'where could she have gone?' I asked myself. Suddenly it hit me.

'_The park!'_

"I think I know where she went" I said out loud, breaking the silence that had filed the room. Everyone's eyes were on me now.

"Where Johnny?" Ponyboy asked me. But I didn't answer him because I had already started running out the door to find Amber.

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**ok, there is the next chapter. you will all probably be very happy to know that i already have the next chapter written and saved to my computer. now all you need to do is review! the more reviews i get and the faster i get them, the faster i update :). ciao! **

**always &forever  
xo Sara ox**


	12. Secret's Out

**Author's Note:** ok guys. your in for a real treat! this is a nice long chapter.

**IMPORTANT:** i replaced the authors note that i had up for my 11th chapter with an actual chapter so you need to go back and read tha tone first before going on to this chapter.

**Disclamier:** i dont own the outsiders, yes i know its so sad lol. I do however own Amber and her father.

**Thank yous:  
babyhilts:** thanx for the review. hope you like this next chapter!  
**Bex:** your right, that dosent make much sense but hey, it dosent matter! as long as its a review then im happy lol. hope you like this next chapter  
**Alaskajenna:** thanx for the review. here is ur update :).  
**Animegirl13:** well, arent u lucky lol. you just read the stiry and now u get an update! i am very happy that you like my story so much. hope you like this next chapter.

and now, on with the chapter!

**

* * *

** **Amber's POV  
**I had run no more than 5 minutes when I came across the park that I had met Johnny in 2 nights ago. I decided that it would be best to sit in the park for a while so I could calm down a little before I upset anyone else in this town. I walked over to one of the benches by the fountain and sat down. 

"God, I am so stupid" I said out loud. I was pissed at myself for yelling at the only friends I had acquired here in Tulsa. _They probably will never talk to me again. Wonderful._ I thought to myself. This thought scared me a lot. _My only friends_. They had only known me for about 2 days and they already felt like family to me. And I just ruined that.

My eyes started to well up with tears and soon they were gently rolling down my face. I had nothing left to live for now. My mother was gone. My father hated me. The only real friends I had probably hate me. My life was a mess and I wished my father had killed me last night. So there I sat, on the same bench that I sat on when I met Johnny, silently crying.

I had been sitting there for at least 5 minutes when I suddenly I felt a soft hand gently brush away my tears. Startled, I looked up to find Johnny sitting on the bench beside me. I looked at him for a minute and I just couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed his shirt and started crying into his chest. He rapped his arms around my waist and sat there gently rocking me back and forth and saying comforting words into my ear.

"Shh, its ok. Don't cry" he said softly.

"Oh, Johnny! I don't know what to do. My life is a mess. You have no idea what its like. I wish I was dead!" I said, close to hysterics now.

"No! No, you don't. I do know what its like and I know how it feels but you cant give in! You cant let your father see that he's affected you because it will only make things worse. " he said. At this I calmed down a bit and looked up into his big, chocolate brown eyes.

"I know. Pony told me about your family the other day" I said. At the moment I was a little embarrassed. Johnny had the same home life as me and he never cried. Yet here I was, sitting in his arms complaining about my life. I wiped my eyes and went to get up off the bench but felt arms rap around my waist, pulling me back down.

"Hey, come here" Johnny said to me.

"Johnny, I feel so stupid. I mean, you've gone through so much worse and yet here I am, bawling to you about my life" I said.

"That may be true but I had the gang to help me deal with it Amber. You didn't have anyone. It's ok to cry and complain about it. Venting to someone always makes you feel better" he said with a laugh. I laughed a little too.

"And remember" he continued "if you ever need anything, or if your upset, you have the gang now. You can always talk to me, or one of the gang. I know we've only known you for a couple of days but, your like family to us" he said.

"Thanks Johnny" I said, wiping the tears from my face and giving him a hug.

"Your welcome. You think your ready to go back to the Curtis's house yet?" he asked.

"Yea. We can go back now" I said softly.

Johnny stood up first and reached out his hand to help me up. I grabbed his hand and stood up next to him.

* * *

It took us 5 minutes to get back to the Curtis's. Johnny and I had walked hand in hand the whole way there. We walked up the porch and to the door. Once again you could hear loud noises coming from inside the house. I swear these boys were the loudest people in the world. I don't know how anyone could live next-door to them. Bracing myself for the worst, I apprehensively opened the door and stepped inside. Right when I stepped in the room went silent. Everyone's eyes were on me once again. 

"Um, hey guys" I said nervously. To my surprise, instead of yelling, they all got up and ran over to me. Each person took a turn giving me a hug a pretty soon they had all started questioning me again.

"Amber where did you go?" Pony asked.

"We were so worried about you" Soda said.

"Why did you run off like that?" Dally asked.

"You could have gotten hurt again, or worse!" Darry said, his fatherly instincts kicking in.

"Guys, guys. Come on back off and give her some space" Johnny said, coming out from his hiding spot at the entrance of the door.

"Your right Johnny. Amber, do you want to sit down on the couch and talk about this? Or do you need more time?" Darry asked calmly.

"No, I don't need more time. I'll talk about it now." I said quietly. Darry nodded his head and led me over to the couch.

"Ok, well. Umm, this is a little hard for me to say but here it goes. When I was 6 years old, my father got into a car accident. He was badly hurt and needed to take a bunch of different drugs to help him get better. One of the drugs was some sort of anti-depressant. It was supposed to help him relax and calm down or something like that. Anyway, my father decided that he liked the way it made him feel. To make a long story short, he ended up becoming addicted to it. He started going to bars, buying drugs and drinking. At first he wasn't that bad but after a while he got worse. He'd come home from the bars stoned and all boozed up. The worst part though, was that he'd start to beat my mother and I. Most of the times he would beat us because he was bored and had nothing better to do. We were terrified of him."

"Why didn't you tell anyone? Or better yet, why didn't your mom divorce him" Soda asked, interrupting me.

"Well, that's the thing. About two months ago, my mother filed for a divorce and custody of me. My father was outraged when he heard this. He was going to do anything in his power to keep her from taking me away from him. And that's just what he did. One night my mother and I came home to find all the lights in our house were off. We figured that my father had gone to get boozed again so we thought nothing of it and walked inside. Right as my mother stepped through the threshold I heard two loud bans and a crack of light. I rushed inside just in time to see my mother hit the floor. I screamed and ran over to my mother. I examined her wounds to find that she had two bullet holes in her. One on her shoulder and one in her chest. I also noticed that she had hit her head pretty hard when she fell to the ground. I started crying and trying to wake her up when I felt a hand grip my shoulder and pull me to my feet. I was thrust against the wall and looked up to meet my attack in the eye. It was my father."

**Flashback  
**"Y-You, you shot her! How could you!" I screamed, tears feverishly streaming down my face. My father stood there laughing at me.

"Now your mine!" he said and I suddenly knew why he had shot my mother. I looked at her lying there motionless on the ground surrounded in her own blood. I felt a pang of guilt run through my body. My mother was lying there on the floor with two bullet holes in her because she tried to save me! She tried to take me away from my father and now she is dying because of it.

"You have to help her! She's dying!" I screamed, struggling to get out of my fathers death grip. He just kept laughing.

"Please! I'll do anything you ask, just please! SAVE MY MOTHER!" I was hysterically crying.

"Fine!" he said. At this statement I stopped struggling and just stared at him in shock.

"If I call an ambulance then you have to stick to the story that I tell them!" he continued.

"Ok" I whispered. I knew I shouldn't be lying, especially to the cops but if it saved my mother than I would lie.

5 minutes later

"How long has she been like this?" one of the guys from the ambulance questioned me.

" I don't know. Maybe about 10 minutes?" I whispered. I was still crying and my throat hurt from screaming.

The guy gave me a sympathetical look and then said "She's lost a lot of blood. She doesn't look to good either. We have to get her to the hospital now. Are you going to come with us?" he asked me.

"No, I think I'll just stay here" I said, forcing a smile on my face. I watched my mother get lifted onto a stretcher and rushed into an ambulance. I walked outside onto the porch and watched the ambulance hurry down the road. When I could no longer see the flashing lights of the ambulance, I turned around and walked back into my house. My dad called me over and told me that there was a police officer that wanted to question us.

"So, Mr. Baker, do you mind telling me what happened here?" the police officer asked.

"Well, me and my daughter Amber had just got home from a lovely day at the mall and I noticed that all the lights in the house were out. I asked Amber if her mother said that she was going somewhere and she said 'no, not that I know of dad'. Well, we walked up to the door and unlocked it. I turned on the lights and that's when I saw her! She was lying on the floor covered in blood! My daughter started screaming and crying but I told her that she had to calm down and everything would be alright. Honestly officer, I don't know how this happened! My wife was such a nice women! Who would do such a thing!" he said starting to cry. I knew he wasn't really crying, but the police officer didn't. It made me sick to look at him. He had no right to talk about my mother and he had no right in calling me his daughter because he sure hadn't acted like much of a father to me.

"Did your wife have any enemies?" the police officer asked.

'No officer. Like I said before, she was such a kind and caring person. Everyone loved her." My father said.

"What about you young lady. Do you know anyone that had a problem with your mother" the officer asked me.

I looked at my father and he shot me a warning glance.

"No" I said bluntly.

"Alright, well, we will be putting out an alert so people know that there might be a killer on the lose. If we find anything out we will call you and vise versa." The police officer, who I had found out, was named Officer McKee, said holding his hand out for my father to shake it.

My father stood up and put his arm on my shoulder and walked over to the door with Officer McKee. He put a smile and waved good-bye to the officer before shutting the door. As soon as the door was shut he ripped his hand away from me and took off the fake cheery smile that he had had on seconds before.

"Go pack your stuff!" he said to me.

"What?" I asked confused.

"GO, PACK, YOUR, STUFF! Do you not understand English?" he yelled at me.

"Why?"

'Because we are moving! I don't want to be bothered by the police officers and reporters and all that other crp"

"But, where will we go?" I asked.

"We are going back to Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's where I grew up and your grandparents left us possession of their house there when they died" he said. "NOW GO PACK!" he screamed. With that I ran upstairs and started to pack.  
**End Flashback**

"And that's the last I ever saw or heard of my mother" I said, letting a few tears escape my eyes. The room had gotten deathly quiet by that point and I looked around at the gangs faces. They were in complete shock. That's when I realized what I had just said.  
_'O god. What have I done?'_

_

* * *

_ok, so there is ur update. i have half of the next chpater written and it should be posted within the next few days. Maybe even 2morrow if ur lucky. remember, the faster and more reviws i get, the faster i update :). xoxoxo lyl 

_always and forever_  
xo Sara ox


	13. Reactions

**Author's Note:** hey guys! i am sooo sorry for the long wait. I've beenreally busy the past few weeks. anyway, you probably could care less about my whining so, on with the thank yous!

**thank yous:  
XAmberX -** srry you had to wait so long for the update. i think the story behind Amber's pastis very sad too. hope you like this next chapter.  
**TheAngryPrincess13- **thanx for the review, hope you like this next chapter!  
**Two-BtGortez-** thanx for the review!  
**dakota- **thanx for the review. i am glad you like my story! hope you like this next chapter  
**babyhilts- **thanx for the review. hope you like this next chapter  
**Bex- **lol, thanx for the review. Johnny and Amber are going to get together in the next chapter, although this chap has some Johnny/Amber action. hope you like this chap!

**Dedication:** to all my amazingly wonderful reviwers. i hope you havent lost faith in my story! and i am very sorry for the long wait for an update.

**Disclamier:** i don't own any of the outsiders. I wish i did :(. I only own Amber.  
**

* * *

**

**Last chapter:**

"And that's the last I ever saw or heard of my mother" I said, letting a few tears escape my eyes. The room had gotten deathly quiet by that point and I looked around at the gangs faces. They were in complete shock. That's when I realized what I had just said.  
_'O god. What have I done?'

* * *

**(Amber's POV)  
**I looked around the room to see everyone's reactions to my story. Ponyboy and Johnny looked like they had just seen a ghost. Both were deathly pale and Johnny was shaking. Darry was sitting in the chair besides the couch with his head in his hands. Steve was leaning against the wall, looking at me with a shocked expression. The happy-go-lucky grin that was always on Soda's face was now gone and replaced with one of his rare frowns. Two-bit was still on the floor sitting in front of the TV but it was turned off. The happy and joyful sounds of Mickey Mouse were not echoing throughout the house today. He wasn't smiling or cracking jokes like he so often did. Instead, he was sitting there with his head slightly tilted to the side and his mouth hanging open. Looking away from Two-bit I glanced over to Dally. He was sitting on the arm of the couch staring at the blank TV screen looking lost in his own thoughts._

I wasn't sure if I should say something or if I should get up and leave. Judging from the looks on the guys faces I could tell that they were probably just as confused as I was. They were probably deciding if they should yell at me or just kick me out onto the streets. Maybe even both.

"Amber" Darry said, breaking the silence. "Is this true?" he asked, looking straight at me.

"Yes" I choked out. I was starting to cry again.

Darry open his mouth about to say something but then shut it, as if he decided to rethink his words.

"I don't think that you should go back to your house." He finally said.

"But Darry" I started but was cut off when he started to talk again.

"Actually, no, let me rephrase that. I don't want you go back to that house." He said in a stern tone that I had never heard him use before.

"Darry, I can't just not go back. My father…" I started to say, but once again he cut me off.

"Your father is exactly why you can't go back! I mean, come on! Look at yourself! I think that we should inform the police about this"

"No!" I shouted jumping up from my seat on the couch.

"Y-You can't! If they take my father away I'd have no where to go! I'm only 16! I'm not legal for another year and a half! They'd send me off to some boarding school or a girls home!" I shouted. Those were the only reasons why I had put up with my father for the past few years. I was afraid of being put into an orphanage.

"Amber, calm down. Darry is only trying to do what's best for you" Soda said, walking over to me and putting his hands on my shoulders.

"I know he is! But I don't want to have to go to an orphanage! That's the only reason why I've stuck with my father for all these years! If you tell…I'll…I'll run away!" I said. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Amber, it's dangerous out there on the streets. You could get hurt if you ran away!" Johnny said walking over to her.

"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped at him. Johnny looked hurt and I quickly apologized.

"Oh, Johnny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap" I said walking over and hugging him.

"That's ok" he said. "I just don't want ya to get hurt. "

"You won't really run away, will you?" Two-bit asked.

"I might" I said.

"No, no one is gonna run away!" Darry said suddenly. "Your almost 17 right?"

He looked at me and I nodded. "I'll be 17 in a month""So that means that you only have about a year until your legal right?" he stopped to look at me and once again I nodded.

"Why does that matter though?" I asked.

"Well, you could live here until your 18"

"oh, no Darry. I couldn't."

"Why not? Do we smell or something?" Soda asked.

"No" I laughed. "I just don't want to inconvenience you. And I'd feel like I was intruding."

"You know, technically your not intruding since we invited you to live here in the first place." Ponyboy said.

"You know that I'm not gonna let you live on the streets so you might as well quit arguing with us" Darry said.

"Alright. But I am going to pay rent no matter what you say."

"No, you don't have to pay rent. Can you cook and clean?" Darry asked.

"Umm, yea" I answered.

"Well, that will be how you pay us"

"Ok." I said smiling.

"Yes! No more eating strangely colored food!" Ponyboy shouted.

"What?" I asked laughing at his joyfulness.

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't mind him" Soda said pulling me into a hug.

"Ok, well first things first" Darry said. "I am going to go report this to the police. Soda, Pony and Johnny. I want you to go to Amber's house and help her pack all of her things. Dally, Steve and Two-bit, you guys can. Well…you guys can go back to doing whatever the hell it was that you were doing"

"Yes sir!" Two-bit said, standing up and giving Darry an army salute.

"Ha, ha. Real funny Two-bit" Darry said smacking him on the head.

Darry then turned and walked into the kitchen to call the police. Two-bit turned the tv back on and soon the house was filled once again with the sounds of Mickey Mouse. Steve and Dally walked out the door saying something about going to Buck's party. Me, Johnny, Soda and Pony all got up from our seats and walked towards the door. Johnny walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad your not going to run away" he said, lacing his fingers between mine.

"Me too Johnny" I said smiling.

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**ok, there you go, there is ur update. srry it's kinda short but the next chapter should be pretty long. i think there's only gonna be 2 chapters after this and then i am going to make a sequal if anyone wants me too. i promise that i'll try extremly hard to update soon.**

xoxoxo  
always & forever  
Sara 


	14. When the morning comes

**Authors Note:** wow, its been really long since i last updated. sorry about that. Anyway. This chapter is made up of mostly flashbacks. It also takes place a month later from last chapter. ( also, it takes place in august cuz the story started in july. not sure if i mentioned that). I tired to make more Johnny/Amber action but i really am no good at writing romantic stuff. this chapter took me a while to write because i origonally had it planned to be the second to last chapter but i changed my mind. It's very long, longer than usual because i wanted to make up for not updateing.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the outsiders although i wish i did. I only own Amber.

**Thank Yous: **  
**XAmberX- **thanx so much for the review. i always look forward to your reviews because they inspire me :).  
**DramaticAngel-** thanx for the review. i absolutly love your story Witches of Tulsa and the sequal to it.  
**Two-BitGortez  
Caitym  
cjnew91**

* * *

**(Amber's POV)  
- 1 month later -**

"Wake up sleepyhead!" I heard someone shout as they ran into my room and jumped on top of me. I groaned and turned over to see who it was that had so kindly awakened me from my sleep. I looked up to see that it was Soda who was sitting on top of me.

"Soda! Get off, your squishing me!" I said. He laughed and got off of me.

"Come on Amber, you have to get up." I heard Ponyboy say.

"Ugh, no! Go away, it's to early!" I said, throwing a pillow at him. He ducked and the pillow flew over his head, hitting the wall.

"It's 9:30, how is that early?" Soda asked.

"It just is!" I whined.

"Ok, whatever you say. Come on Soda, lets go" Ponyboy said. Oh thank goodness, I silently said to myself as I heard the door to my room shut. I turned over onto my side and tried to fall back to sleep.

It couldn't have been more than 5 minutes before I heard the door to my room open once again. "Oh no, what do they want now." I said to myself.

"Back so soon?" I asked. No one answered so I figured I was hearing things. Boy was I wrong. All of a sudden I felt an ice cold liquid hit my face.

"Ahhhh! What the hell?" I screamed, as I jumped out of bed. I heard the sound of laughter coming from my doorway and I turned to see Soda and Pony standing there laughing hysterically.

"Why did you do that?" I said slowly and angrily.

"Not our fault that you wouldn't get up" Pony said between fits of laughter.

"You couldn't even give me a warning!" I said.

"No, it's much funnier this way" Soda said once he caught his breath.

"Oh, you just wait! I get you guys one day when you least expect it!"

"Is that a threat?" Ponyboy asked, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Possibly" I said smiling at the thought of what I could do to them as payback.

"Ok, anyways. I need to get dressed now so you have to get out" I said. They both nodded and turned and walked out the door.

* * *

5 minutes later I had dried off and was dressed in a white halter top and light pink capris.My hair was in a ponytail with my bangs pushed to the right side of my face. I stepped out of my room and walked down the hallway into the kitchen singing a cheerful song.

"Morning Darry" I said happily, taking a seat at the table.

"What are you so happy about?" Darry asked, giving me a puzzled look.

"Oh, nothing." I said. Darry looked at me for a second and then shrugged his shoulders. I guess he had forgotten.

"Hey Dar, do you know what day today is?" I asked.

"Saturday?" He said looking at me like I was crazy.

"No! I mean what is today?" I asked smiling.

"I don't know. What is today?" he asked.

"Today is my 1 month anniversary of living with you guys!" I said excitedly. Today was August 1rst and I had moved in with the Curtis's on July 1rst. I had lived with them for exactly 1 month so far. One glorious and wonderful month. I loved living with Ponyboy, Darry and Soda. They were so nice to me and living with them finally made me feel like I was part of a family. Johnny and I had started dating. I hadn't seen my dad ever since that night a month ago and I was grateful for it. Darry had called the police and reported everything. Unfortunately, by time the police got to my house, my father was already gone.

**-Flashback-**  
Pony, Soda, Johnny and I had just walked out of the Curtis household and we were now on our way to my house. Darry had called the police and told us to wait at my house until they arrived.

My house was only 5 block away from the Curtis' so it took us about 10 minutes to get there. The police weren't there yet so Soda, Pony, Johnny and I sat on the curb waiting for them to arrive. We were all silent for a minute before Soda spoke up.

"Why didn't you tell any of your relatives about your father Amber?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess I was just afraid that he would do the same thing to them that he did to my mother." I said.

"Yeah, I guess I would be too if I were you." He said.

"Maybe we should go in the house and get your stuff Amber?" Johnny asked.

"No, Darry said to wait out here for the police." I said.

"That's ok. I agree with Johnny. The police probably won't be here for at least another 15 minutes. They don't care about greasers like us." Soda said.

"Ok come on Soda, don't say that." I said sadly.

"Why? It's the truth" Ponyboy said. Great way to brighten up the atmosphere guys, I thought to myself. All this negativity was really bringing me down.

"Fine, we can go inside, just don't touch anything in case the police need it for evidence". I finally gave in.

The inside of my house looked like a mess. There was some dried blood on the floor in the hallway. There was a hole in the wall just outside of the living room and the TV we had was shattered. I walked into the kitchen and saw the table broken and chairs, knives and forks scattered all around on the floor. My father must have gone on a rampage and destroyed the house I thought. Thinking of my father made me realize something. He wasn't in the house. I quickly ran up the stairs to my fathers room; ignoring the strange looks that I was receiving from the others. I kicked open the door and saw that all of his possessions, well almost all of his possessions were gone. I ran around searching every inch of his room. Searching for something, anything that could act as a clue to help me find out where he was.

"NO, NO, NO! this can't be happening!" I screamed. Right after I said this I heard the guys all run up the stairs and appear at the doorway.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked worridly as he walked into the room.

"He's not here!" I said aggravated.

"Who isn't here?" Soda asked.

"My father! He's gone!" I said. Johnny walked over to me and gave me a hug.

"Come on, lets just get your stuff and leave" he wisphered into my ear.

We walked out of my father's room and into mine. I grabbed two duffel bags and stuffed all of my clothes and possessions into them. I didn't have a lot of things so fitting them into the bags wasn't a problem. When I finished getting all of my things Soda, Pony, Johnny and I walked outside to wait for the police again. To my surprise, they were already outside waiting for me and Darry was with them. They asked me a few questions and said that they'd search for my father. If he wasn't found in a week then they would assume he was in a different state and wouldn't be back to hurt me anytime soon. With that said, Darry drove us all back home. When we reached the house everyone except me and Johnny walked up to the door.

"Hey Amber. I was wondering if maybe, you'd like to go out with me. You know like on a date?" Johnny asked quickly.

"Sure. I'd love that." I said smiling.

"Well, I better be going. Tell the guys that I'll be in the lot if they need me."

"Ok Johnny. Night" I said as he turned and walked down the road.

**- end of flashback- **

I sat at the kitchen table smiling at the memory. It was the day Johnny asked me out. It was also the day that I came to live with the Curtis' and let that hellhole that I called home forever. They never did find my dad though.

**- Flashback-  
**It was around 2 in the afternoon and I was sitting on the couch in the Curtis' living room. I was snuggled up on the couch with my boyfriend, Johnny watching TV when I heard the doorbell ring. I went to get up off the couch but Johnny grabbed my waist and pulled me back down.

"Don't leave" he said as he kissed me.

I smiled. "Come on Johnny I have to get the door. I'll be right back."

He pouted and let go of my waist. I got up and answered the door.

"Hello, I am Officer McKee. May I speak to Miss Amber Baker?" a tall police officer asked.

"I am Amber"

"Well, I have some news on your dad. It could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. It seems that we can't find him and it's been over a week so I am sorry to inform you but we will be giving up the search. We have concluded that he has left the state and won't be coming back here anytime soon." The police officer said.

"Ok, thank you." I said sadly.

"Have a nice day miss"

"You too" I said smiling as I shut the door.

**- end of flashback- **

I must have spaced out for a few minutes because Darry started to shake me.

"Humm?" I said.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

" Yeah why?"

"Because I have been calling your name for the past five minutes." He said.

"Oh, sorry Dar. I must have spaced out. What do you want?" I asked.

"I was just wondering if you wanted any breakfast?"

"Umm, sure why not. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" I said laughing.

"ok, oh and also. I was thinking. Why don't we go out to dinner tonight. Us and the gang. I mean. It is a very special day as you said yourself."

"Sure Darry" I said smiling.

* * *

**there's the 14th chapter. next one up soon :). review!**

**xo Sara ox**


	15. Payback time

**Authors Note:** I am sooo sorry that i haven't updated in so long. I just started high school 2 weeks ago and i'm in honors classes so i've been getting overloaded with hw. I meant to write this chapter alot sooner but i could never find the time. Today i stayed home sick from school so i decided to update :). Sorry if this chapter seems short. i have the 16th one already half written and i'll be posting it later, so i figured that two short posts is equal to one long post. Anyway, this chapter is sort of pointless..but i didn't want to skip right to them going to dinner. Oh and i got The Outsiders Special Edition DVD. It's really good and it has a different beginning and end :).

**Thank Yous:  
XAmberX:** an evil grnadmother..never thought of that lol. very creative. This chapter is how she gets back at the boys. It really isn't much but..yea. Anyway..one of the things in your review might possibly be happening in the near future hehe. hope you like this chapter :)  
**Janai- **ok, first of all, I DON'T CARE if you think my story sucks. I have 73 other reviews that are good and one bad so you know what, your flame did absolutly nothing to my self esteem. And you know what, i have said it before (or at least i think i have) you can flame and hate my story and i won't care because it's your own opinion. If you don't like Mary-Sue's, why did you bother reading my story? I am quoting you when you said "No real person is like this inispid wench" That's the point. this is called fan**FICTION** meaning that it **ISN'T REAL. **or did you not know that? so, in conclusion. thank you for your time. thank you for your flame.  
**Caitym-** thanks for your review :). I am glad you like my story and I totally agree with everything that you said about the flamer. hope you like this next chapter.  
**Two-BitGortez-** thanks for the review :)  
**QTpie4- **thanks for your review :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Outsiders...unfortunatley :(.

**

* * *

Amber's POV**

The rest of my day was pretty boring. I spent the majority of it sitting on the couch with Two-bit watching Mickey Mouse re-runs. Darry was at work. Soda and Steve had dates with Sandy and Evie. Pony, Johnny and Dally were at the movies and would be returning later on. Sitting on a couch all day watching Mickey Mouse got boring after a while, and eventually me and Two-bit fell asleep.

It was around 5 when Darry came home from work. He walked into the living room to find me and Two-bit still sleeping on the couch.

"Get up you lazy bums" he said. I groaned and changed my position on the couch but didn't wake up.

"Come on, you can't sleep your lives away"

I yawned and sat up to find Two-bit leaning against the arm rest of the couch, still sleeping. I poked him in the ribs a few times and he woke up and stared at me.

"Ow, what was that for?" He asked.

"I was just trying to wake you up" I said innocently.

"Yeah right" he said with and evil glint in his eyes.

"What are you thinking about Two-bit?"

As soon as I had asked the question, the answer came. Two-bit leaned forward, jumped on top of me and started tickling me.

"Ahh! Get off. Stop!" I yelled helplessly as we rolled of the couch and onto the floor with a big 'thud'. I tried to fight back but he was to strong and I was laughing to hard.

Just then the door opened and Pony, Johnny, Soda and Steve walked in. They came to an abrupt stop when they saw Two-bit and I on the floor. Pony cleared his throat, most likely trying to get our attention. Two-bit and I looked at them to see them all staring at us like we were crazy. The looks on their faces caused Two-bit and I to start laughing once again.

"What's wrong with them?" Steve asked.

"I think they've lost it" Pony said causing me and Two-bit to start laughing even harder. Then, an idea came to me. I stopped laughing and whispered something into Two-bits ear. He too stopped laughing and nodded his head. Staring at Pony and Soda, Two-bit and I got up and slowly approached them."What's going on guys?" Pony asked nervously. I guess he could tell that we were up to something.

"It's payback time boys" I said as I grabbed Pony and pulled him to the ground. I looked over to my left to find that Two-bit had done the same to Soda. I started tickling Pony and between fits of laughter and gasps for breath I heard him say "Amber stop!"

From beside me I heard Soda yelling the same thing as Pony.

"Darry" –breath- "help" –laugh- "us" he said.

Darry walked out of the kitchen, newspaper in hand, and said "Alright you two, that's enough."

Frowning, I stopped tickling Ponyboy and Two-bit released Soda. We got up and left the two boys on the floor gasping for breath.

"Well now, wasn't that random" Steve said as he and Johnny walked over to the couch.

"Extremely random" Johnny muttered to himself as he sat down next to me.

"So, what are we going to do tonight guys?" Steve asked.

"I promised Amber we could go out to dinner since it's her one month anniversary of living with us" Darry said.

"Wow, one month. How did you put up with us for so long?" Two-bit asked teasingly.

"I know! It's a miracle that I've survived" I said laughing.

"Well, it's almost 6. Let's go find Dally so we can go to the Dingo for some dinner." Darry said.

"Say Ponyboy, were did you leave Dally anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be with you and Johnny?" Soda asked.

"Yea, but he decided to stay after the movies to see if he could pick up any broads." Pony said.

"Oh, how wonderful!" I said sarcastically.

We all got up and walked out the door worry-free, not expecting to find what we did when we came home that night.

* * *

ok, hope you liked that chapter :). the next one will be up by tonight. review!

your loving writer,  
xohugsndkissesox 


	16. Dinner and Football

**Authors Note: **hey guys..well...looks like i didn't update when i said i would but look on the bright side, at least it took me less then a week to post the next chapter lol. Anyway, some of you may find this chapter a little boring but i think that this is the second to last chapter. I think that the next chapter will be the final chapter but i'm not sure.

**Disclamier:** I don't own The Outsiders characters, but i do own a copy ofthe book and DVD! lol.

**Thank Yous:** I don't have enough time at the moment to thank each person individually but i just want to give shout outs to: **Cjnew91, XAmberX**, **DramaticAngel** ( i'm glad you like my story. I love your stories "Witches of Tulsa" and "BringMe To Life"), **Maggie (**I tried to get some more Johnny/Amber action in but i really am no good at writting romace stuff. but anyways i'm glad you liek my story), **fizzyworms** ( i love your story "A Twist of fate") and **tikagem** ( i'm glad you like my story. And i know what you mean with the i am and I'm. Sometimes i don't think straight and i write I am instead of I'm when i really meant to write I'm. wow, that sentence sounds really confusing lol). Thank you all for reviewing and reading my story! You guys are what inspire me! hope you like the next chapter.

* * *

**Amber's POV**

The six of us arrived at the movie theater at around six to find Dally right where Johnny and Pony had left him. He was talking to two girls; one with brown hair and one with red. I recognized the two girls as Cherry and Marcia. Pony had introduced me to them a few weeks ago.

"Hey Dal" Johnny said walking up to the older greaser.

"Hey Johnnycakes" Dally said.

"Amber and the rest of us are going out to The Dingo for dinner. You wanna come?" Pony asked.

"Sure" Dally said.

"Well babe, looks like I got to go" Dally said turning to face Cherry.

"Oh I am heartbroken" she said.

"I bet you are" Dally said with a smug smile on his face. He whispered something in her ear and from the look on her face I could tell it was probably something dirty.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again you greasy hood" Cherry shouted. She slapped Dally hard across the face and then turned and walked out with Marcia.

"Dally, when will you ever learn?" I asked him as he walked over to me, rubbing the side of his face where Cherry had slapped him.

"Never" he said smirking and putting an arm across my shoulders.

"That's what I thought" I mumbled to myself as the gang and I headed for the Dingo.

* * *

It was only about 2 blocks away so we got there fairly quick. Once inside, we sat down at a table near the back of the restaurant. A tall, brunette, waitress came over to our table and took our order.

"Hey, I am your waitress Kelly. What would you like to order?" she asked with a huge smile on her face. Dally opened his mouth to say something but Darry cut him off.

"We'll have 8 cokes and 8 burgers with fries" he said. The waitress nodded, smiled, and walked away from the table.

Dally gave Darry an annoyed look and said "Why'd you cut me off super dope? I was just going to ask for her number."

"Just her number? I have a feeling that you would have asked for a lot more" Darry said. Dally just smiled, turned around and started talking to Johnny.

Ten minutes later, the food had come and quickly, we all ate. It was 7 o'clock and still light outside by the time we all finished.

"Hey, I was thinking, since it's still pretty early and all, do you guys want to go down to the lot and play a little football?" Soda asked.

"You know, that sounds like a pretty good idea kid brother" Darry said.

"I'm in" Steve said.

"Us too" Two-bit and Johnny said.

"What about you Ponyboy?" Soda asked looking at his younger brother.

"Yeah sure" he said.

"Well, I'm out. I think I'm going to go over to Buck's house. He's having another party tonight." Dally said.

"When does he not?" I heard Ponyboy mutter from beside me.

I had heard about Buck Merrill before. He was a 20 something year old who lived on his own and threw house parties 24/7. Mainly people went there to get drunk and have a good time. Darry had told me and Ponyboy that he'd skin us if he ever caught us at one of Buck's parties.

"Well, see ya round Dal" Johnny said as Dallas got up and walked out of the Dingo.

"Are you going to be playing Amber?" Soda asked laughing.

"I don't know. Maybe" I said smiling.

"Really?" he asked startled.

"Yes. Why the startled face?" I asked.

"Well….I just thought that since you were a girl and all, you probably wouldn't want to get all dirty or break a nail or anything."

"Yeah, well, it's time you get that stereotype out of your head Sodapop Curtis. Girls can play football if they really want to, without caring if they break a nail or get dirty." I said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Ok then, lets go play some football!" Two-bit shouted running out the door of the Dingo. The rest of us followed, running all the way to the lot.

* * *

"So, you know the rules of the game?" Two-bit asked me as we got into our positions. I was on his team along with Ponyboy. Soda, Darry and Steve were on the other team. Johnny had decided to sit on the sidelines and watch. 

"Not really,but I'll figure it out. It can't be that hard." I replied. I got in position, Darry threw the ball, and we were off. (A/n: as you can tell, I am football- retarded so I'm just not going to write the game part lol).

The game last for about an hour before we all got tired. My team ended up losing but it was still really fun. I tackled Soda a few times and I even intercepted the ball and scored a touchdown!

It was getting dark out so Darry said that we had to leave. I walked over to Johnny and started talking to him.

"So, what did you think? Did I do good?" I asked.

"You did great" he said giving me a quick kiss.

"Aww thanks, but I know your only saying that because you're my boyfriend."

"No, really. Your really good. I mean, you practically killed Soda when you tackled him. I'd sure hate to have you angry at me." Johnny said and I laughed.

We were about a block away from the Curtis residence when Ponyboy said "Hey Amber"

"Yeah?"

"I bet I could beat you to the house"

"Oh yeah. I bet you can't" I answered then bolted down the block. Within seconds, Ponyboy was running right next to me. He passed me and quickly opened the rusty metal gate leading to his house. He ran up the steps, me right behind him, when he came to an abrupt halt. He stopped so quickly that I crashed into him and fell to the floor.

"Oww, why'd you stop?" I said as I stood up brushing the dirt of myself. He stood motionless, mouth open wide, standing in front of the door way for a few seconds, and when he didn't answer I decided to see for myself. I stepped in front of him and looked into the house. What I saw at that moment was more horrifying than anything else in the world.

* * *

oh, cliff hanger hehe. Read and review guys! also, i am taking a poll since the next chapter will be my last (most likley). when you guys review i want to know if you want me to write a sequal. thanx. ciao xoxoxo

xohugsndkissesox 


	17. Saying Goodbye

**Author's Note:** hey guys. well, this is a very sad/ happy moment for me. This is the last chapter of my very first fanfiction. Iam posting another chapter that will be an authors note thanking everyone that reviewed and explaining a little bit about the story. There will also be a sneak preview of the sequal. Anways, your really lucky b/c this chapter is really long b/c i didnt want to separate it into 2 chaps.

**Disclaimer: **I dont own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does. I also don't own the song lyrics in the beggining and end of the chapter. It's the song "Photograph" by Nickelback. (i just hought that it fit well with this chpater)

**Thank you's : **I'm not making these long because i am thanking everyone in the next chapter.  
**tikagem  
dakota  
Kal's Gal  
XAmberX  
sokkazukofan  
UrnotSethCohen  
Dramatic Angel  
QTpie4**

and now, here is the last chapter of A Walk In The Park

* * *

Look at this photograph  
every time I do it makes me laugh  
How did our eyes get so red  
And what the hell is on Joey's head? 

This is where I grew up  
I think the present owner fixed it up  
I never knew we ever went without  
The second floor is hard for sneakin' out

And this is where I went to school  
Most of the time had better things to do  
Criminal record says I broke in twice  
I must've done it half a dozen times

I wonder if it's too late  
Should I go back and try to graduate?  
Life's better now than it was back then  
If I was them I wouldn't let me in  
Oh, oh, oh...

**Amber's POV**

"What's wrong guys?" Soda asked as he and the rest of the gang neared the door. Neither Pony or I answered. We just stood there motionless, not moving a muscle.

Darry pushed past us to find out what we were looking at. When he reached the door, he backed up a little and said "Oh my. Stay behind me guys." We all stepped inside and looked around. The living room was a wreck. Paper, clothes and shattered picture frames were scattered about on the floor. Glass from the picture frames was everywhere and the dinning room table and chairs were knocked over. Someone had broken in. The weird thing was that nothing was missing. The person that broke in was looking for something… or, someone.

Walking through the mess on the floor I tried to find a trace of the person that had been in the house, or possibly was still in the house. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the blade of a knife sticking out from under the couch cushions. I went over a pulled it from under the cushion. Inspecting it, I found that it was a brown handled switchblade that had a picture of a gold eagle engraved into the handle. It looked exactly like the one my father owned. I turned the knife upside down and on the bottom saw 2 initials engraved in gold writing. CB. Calvin Baker. Those 2 initials had confirmed my fear. My father was the one that had broken in, the one who might still be in the house, waiting for us to stumble upon him. I had to tell the gang about this.

"Guys" I said. They all turned and looked at me.

"I, I think that my father was the one who broke in. This is his switchblade; I found it in the couch cushions. It even has his initials on it."

"Do you think he was looking for you? Could he still be in the house?" Pony asked nervously. I shrugged my shoulders, signaling that I didn't know. Out of nowhere, we heard a loud 'crash' that sounded as if something had just shattered. Grumbling and grunting, we saw a man walk down the hall towards the living room. It was too dark to see his face, but I had a pretty good idea of who it was. Darry and the rest of the gang started forming a circle around me.

"Stay behind me" I heard Darry whisper.

"AMBER! GET OVER HERE NOW!" the man shouted as he stepped into the light. It was my father. I made a funny noise and started to shake. Pony and Johnny walked over to me and put Johnny arm on my shoulders. Darry and Dally stood in front of me and Two-bit, Steve and Soda pulled out their switchblades.

"What do you want?" Dally said.

"Who are you and why the hell are you all with my daughter!" my father said.

"We, are her friends. And unlike you, we actually care about her" Steve spat back.

"Well I want you all to get away from my daughter!" he said stepping towards us.

"One more step and your mince meat buddy" Two-bit said.

"How did you find me?" I asked, finally getting the courage to speak.

"You had this address written down on a piece of paper in your room" He said nonchalantly.

"What do you want?" I cried.

"I want you, to get over here NOW. You are coming with me. We are leaving this place so no one can find us!"

"NO! I will not go with you." I said stepping out from the circle that the gang had formed around me.

"You do NOT control my life! I do. You're a horrible father! You don't care about me and you never will! You can't, you WON'T make me go with you" I screamed at him. It felt so good to finally give him what he deserved.

"oh yes I can!" he said as he lunged forward to hit me. Dally pushed me out of the way and caught my fathers wrist. He punched hi min the stomach and my father fell to the ground. He growled and got up.

Then he said "You'll get what you deserve you little witch! I'll hunt you down, and I'll find you! I'll be your worst nightmare, and I can make your life a living hell. Mark my words. I'll be there, when you least expect it" he said. With that, my father ran out the door leaving the gang and I standing there in shock.

"I better go call the police" Darry said quietly.

"I, I can't believe it. He was right under our noses…and we let him get away?" I said in disbelief.

'It's ok Amber, everything will be fine" Soda said.

The whole gang had moved onto the couch when Darry came back from the kitchen where he had phoned the police.

'They'll be right here. But, they have some bad news for you Amber. They said" he paused. "They said that they think it would be best if you went to live somewhere else. Like with a relative or something. They wouldn't tell me where. No one is supposed to know. They only told me that you'll be in a different state with a different name and everything." He said, studying my face to see my reaction.

"Why?" was all I managed to choke out.

"The police are afraid that your father will come back for you, and possibly kill you." I started to cry, I didn't want to leave Tulsa. That would mean leaving Johnny and the gang. My only true friends.

"When do I leave?" I said, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"In three days. I'm sorry" Darry said, then he walked into the kitchen and started cleaning up.

* * *

**3 days later  
**I sat in my room getting the last of my stuff together. I'm gonna miss this place so much, I thought. I dreaded stepping out of my room, because that meant facing the reality that I was leaving.

"Amber" I heard Soda yell. That meant that the taxi was here. It was going to take me to the Tulsa airport. I took one last look at my room, grabbed a letter off my bed, and walked into the living room. The letter that I had with me was for Johnny. I knew I wouldn't be able to tell him everything I wanted to before I left, I'd be crying to much. So I wrote him a letter that ended up like this:

Dear Johnny,  
This is really hard for me to write, because writing this letter means that this whole mess is real, and that's something that I don't want to believe. I remember when I met you in the park a little over a month ago. You were so shy and quiet. Now, well, now your more open and...not so quiet. I love you so much Johnny. You're an amazing person and I never could have survived my time in Tulsa without you. So I just want to tell you thanks. For everything. But please, don't be sad and don't stop your life. Move on, and don't wait for me.I don't want to leave you, or any of the game for that matter. Your all so close to me and I'll miss you all dearly. Tell Pony that he is a great kid and he should never change because you don't find many people like him in Tulsa. Tell Soda to always keep that grin on his face; it makes everyone happier. Darry, stay strong. You're a great brother to Soda and Pony, and compared to everyone else, you are superman. Two-bit, your so funny. I'm gonna miss your wise cracks all the time. Steve, you're a great mechanic and a wonderful friend but please try to be nice to Ponyboy. And Dally; don't hold in your emotions. It isn't healthy. I know that behind your tough guy image, your not really as bad as people make you sound.  
Well, I guess I should stop writing now because I am crying and my tears will make the ink smudge. I'll never forget any of you, or the time that I spent in Tulsa. Don't forget me. Remember, this isn't goodbye, because goodbye means forever. This is just see you later, because one day, I will return to Tulsa. And you better all still be here!  
Love always,  
Amber Baker

Along with the letter, I had a picture of me and Johnny at the park. Stepping into the living room, I was greeted with sad faces.

"Please don't cry" I said upon seeing that Johnny and Pony had tears running down theur faces.

"Your gonna make me cry" I said laughing.

"We'll miss you Amber" Soda said as he gave me a hug.

"I'll miss you too." I said.

Steve, Darry, Pony and Two-bit also gave me hugs. Next was Dally.

"Take care kid" he said as he hugged me, something that I thought he'd never do.

"You too Dally"

Johnny was the last to say goodbye.

"Don't forget me Johnny" I said as I handed him the envelope. He took it from my hand and enveloped me in a hug.

"Never" he answered. We heard the car horn honk ouside and Darry said that I'd better go before the taxi driver had a fit.

The whole gang walked outside with me and watched me get into the car. The driver started the engine and began to drive away. Sitting in the backseat, I stared out the back window watching as the gang and the Curtis house slowly faded out of view. I felt warm tears rolling down my face and I knew it was silly to cry. One day, I would come back here; whether it be 1 year, 2 years or even 10 years from now, I'd return to Tulsa.  
Someday….

I miss that town, I miss the faces  
You can't erase, you can't replace it  
I miss it now, I can't believe it  
So hard to stay, too hard to leave it

If I could relive those days  
I know the one thing that would never change

Every memory of lookin' out the back door  
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walkin' out the front door  
I found the photo of the friend that I was lookin' for  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye, goodbye

Look at this photograph  
Every time I do it makes me laugh  
Every time I do it makes me...

* * *

well, hope you liked my story. and i hope the ending satsifyed you all. look for the author's note to be posted sometime tommorrow. review! i have 89 reviews! 11 more and i have 100! I know i can make it to 100 because you all love me so much and i love you lol. so, make me happy! review! xoxxox

xohugsndkissesox 


	18. author's note and preview of the sequal

**Author's Note:** ok, srry to disappoint you guys but this isnt a chapter. this is where i will be writting thank yous to my reviewers from the last chapterand there shall be some background info on the story and on the sequal.

**Background: **This story takes place before the book, but the Curtis parents are dead. (that little piece of info could have been helpful at the beginning of the story right lol.) I'm not sure if i ever told you this but Amber moved to Tulsa about a month or two before the story takes place, she just never met the outsidersbecause she didn't go out alot. She moved from San Francisco California. She's 16 at the beginning of the story and at the end she is amost 17.  
I'm going to explain the whole deal with her father and mother just in case i confused some of you. Her father was abusive to Amber and her mother. Her mother wanted t oget a divorce and she wanted custody of Amber. When her mother told her father this, her father shot her in hopes that she would die so that he'd have to get custody of Amber. fortunatley, Amber comes and finds her mother in the nick of time. Her mother gets taken to the hospital but is in a comma. Amber's father brings her to Tulsa so they can escape the police and all their questioning. I hope that cleared everything up a bit. and if it didn't and i just made you more confuse then i'm sorry andyou should forget everything i justtold you lol.

**Thank Yous: **wow, i can't even begin to think of wat to say to all of my reviewers. i love you all! your so amazing. When i first started this story i figured that i'd only get about 20 reviews. Now, i have 97. I never thought people would love my story so much.

**(thank yous forchap.17)**  
**QTpie4- **thanks for the review last chapter and thank you for taking the time to read and review my story. I hope you will read the sequal and i hope that you will like it.

**XAmberX- **I'm glad that you liked my story and i hope you will like the sequal. I also wanted to thank you for taking the time to read and review almost every single one of my chapters. I always looked forward to your reviews and they always made me so happy.

**sokkazukofan- **thanx for your review and thank you for taking the time to read and review my story. I hope you will like the sequal.

**DramaticAngel- **yes i know, the ending was so happy wasnt it? lol. and there will be a sequal so dont worry. thank you for taking the time to read and review my story.

**crazycatlover- **thanx for reading my story and dont worry, the sequal will be happier. Thank you for reviewing and im so happy that you liked my story enough to read it sinmce the very beginning. i hope you like the sequal.

**Kelly-1692-** thank you so much for your review. it made me very happy to know that you liked my story so much. Since you liked this story then maybe you would like my other story taht I've started. Its called **Whatever you Do, Don't Scream**. It is a horror story, so if you like horror/ mystery than you might like that one. and dont worry, tehre will be plenty of fics from me in the future :).

**UrnotSethCohen- **thanx for your review. the sequal will be up soon.

to any of the other reviews that have reviewed my storu in the past, thank you so much! every single review means alot to me.

**About the Sequal:** Ok, i had origionally planned for Amber to come back in the sequal to find out that Johnny is dead. this would mean that the sequal happens after the book. But, don't worry. I changed it. My friend gave me an idea and i decided that i'd just change the sequal a tiny bit.  
In the sequal, Amber comes back to Tulsa. She has been gone for almost a year and is now 17. She comes back because the relative she was living with has been murdered and she fears that her father is the killer. When she returns to Tulsa she is greeted warmly by all the gang.She is happy until something happens and things start to go very wrong. (don't worry, the sequal is happier than the first story lol).

**Preview of the Sequal: (the story isn't written in POV's)**

Chapter 1

_Bring Bring _

The sound of a telephone could be heard ringing from inside a small Pennsylvania house. A 17yr old with wavy, dirty blonde hair came running out of her room and down the steps to grab the phone.

"Hello" she said.

"Hello Amber" a raspy voice on the other line said.

"Umm, I'm sorry but, do i know you?" the girl asked politley.

"Oh, come on now Amber. Don't you remember me?" the voice said.

"I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong number. My name isn't Amber. no one of that name lives here" the girl said. She was getting worried now. No one here inPennsylvania knew her name was Amber. They all knew her as Valery Parker. The only people that would know her name, besides family were her friends back in Tulsa and San Francisco (the place she lived before moving to Tulsa). Even then, no one from those two places were suppose to know where she lived, or her phone number.

**ok, i think that's enough for now. The sequal will be up within the next week. I'm not sure what it will be called yet. In the mean time, if you want to read another of my stories then you can read Whatever You Do, Don't Scream. It's a horror story about a killer in Tulsa going around and killing people using Urban Legands.**

xohusgndkissesox


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